The suicide of the chief financial officer of Switzerland’s largest insurer took another odd twist yesterday when the company revealed that the name of its chairman was in the suicide note.
Former high-flying banker Josef Ackermann had abruptly resigned as chairman of Zurich Insurance Group a day earlier — saying the CFO’s widow implicated him in some way.
Ackermann said he would step down to avoid sullying the company’s reputation.
Ackermann didn’t elaborate, and Zurich’s financial sector was left wondering what led to the sudden move.
Then yesterday, the company said a suicide note left by Pierre Wauthier, 53, a married father of two, mentioned Ackermann.
The company didn’t expound beyond that but later took pains to explain that Ackermann’s resignation and the suicide had nothing to do with its financial health.
“I want to make it crystal clear that there is no link between [the resignation and the suicide] and Zurich’s business and financial performance,” Martin Senn, the company’s CEO, said on a conference call with analysts yesterday.
Ackermann called the allegation by the widow “unfounded.”
Still, news that Ackermann’s name was in the note shocked many in Zurich, where the company is based.
“We were informed that such a letter exists and we are aware of its content,” Ackermann’s replacement on the board, Tom de Swaan, said in a conference call.
“It is correct that it relates to the relationship between Pierre Wauthier and Josef Ackermann,” de Swaan said.
He declined to offer specifics about the letter.
Wauthier’s suicide led to speculation that Ackermann, 65, was cracking down on Wauthier amid Zurich’s recent profit declines, including a 27 percent drop in profits in the second quarter.
Senn’s move to reassure investors and employees seems to have worked.
“They were as clear as they possibly could be that there was no link between what has happened and the financial situation,” Peter Eliot, a London-based analyst at Berenberg Bank, told Bloomberg.
Zurich’s US-listed shares gained 2.5 percent yesterday to close at $24.98. The ADRs had been down 6.8 percent so far this year.
“We stand by everything we said at the half year,” he said, referring to the company’s troubled second-quarter financial results.
Zurich has posted two quarters of declining profits, including a 27 percent drop in the second quarter’s bottom line.
The company said it faces difficulties due to natural-disaster payouts, including tornadoes in the US.
De Swaan, meanwhile, promised the board will “look into the question as to whether there was undue pressure placed on our CFO.”
“There is no doubt that these tragic events have cast a shadow over Zurich,” de Swaan said.
Since Ackermann resigned, Wauthier’s palatial lakeside home in the Zurich suburb of Zug, where he was found dead on Monday, has been teeming with security personnel, according to reports.
Attempts by reporters to talk to Wauthier’s widow at the refurbished former restaurant, which overlooks Lake Zug, have resulted in no comments.
Swiss justice
Below are excerpts from yesterday’sconference call:
* “It is correct that [the suicide letter] relates to the relationship between Pierre Wauthier and Josef Ackermann.”
* “The boardsees it as its prime responsibility to look into the question as to whether therewasundue pressureplaced on our CFO.” — Tom de Swaan, ZurichInsurance