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Zurich builds Global Life Asia Pacific Executive Team in record time to drive growth in the region

Zurich Insurance Group (Hong Kong) announces today that it has completed the work of building a new Global Life Asia Pacific Executive Team to drive expansion in Asia. In just four months since the appointment of Dan Bardin as CEO Global Life Asia Pacific, Zurich has recruited key industry talents from the region and drawn on existing in-house expertise globally to build its new executive team.

"In December we announced that Dan Bardin was joining Zurich as CEO Global Life Asia Pacific. We also said that we would make further investments in a top team to drive our ambitions in Asia. It is just four months later and we already have a strong Asia Pacific regional team in place as well as a talented team in Hong Kong. This is another milestone that underlines Zurich's commitment to growing its business in Asia Pacific," says David Sims, CEO Global Life Emerging Markets.

The new members of the Asia Pacific team are:

Cara Atha will join Zurich as Head of Legal, Global Life Asia Pacific, effective May 10. She will oversee all Global Life related legal, compliance and corporate governance in the region.

Maurizio Busti is currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Zurich International Life on the Isle of Man, has been appointed to the new position of CFO Global Life Asia Pacific, effective May 1. Maurizio will be responsible for leading the finance team across the region to effectively support the delivery of Global Life's strategic aspirations.

Chee Cheong will join Zurich as Chief Distribution Officer, Global Life Asia Pacific, effective May 1. He will be responsible for driving growth by further developing Global Life's Agent and Bank Distribution channels.

Julian Lipman joined Zurich as Commercial Director, Global Life Asia Pacific on April 1. Julian will be responsible for managing proposition management, M&A and new market development.

Ted Ridgway joined Zurich as CEO Global Life Hong Kong on January 1. He is responsible for accelerating the Asia Pacific growth strategy and strengthening Zurich's life business in Hong Kong.

Jim Sykes accepted the role of Chief Operations Officer, Global Life Asia Pacific in November 2009. He is responsible for building an operational infrastructure that will support the delivery of client propositions to countries across the Asia Pacific region.

Mandy Wong changed roles within Zurich on April 1, moving from Head of Human Resources, Greater China & Southeast Asia to Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific Global Life. She will be responsible for driving human resources initiatives, including talent acquisition and development across the region.

"These are exciting times for Zurich in Asia Pacific and I am pleased to welcome the new members of the team. We have a challenging job ahead of us but I am confident that with the talent available to us we have the determination and ability to succeed in our goal to ensure that a growing number of customers in Asia Pacific are able to see the benefits that Zurich and Zurich HelpPoint can offer." added Dan Bardin, CEO Global Life Asia Pacific.

Background information:

Cara Atha worked for several major international law firms and financial institutions in the region. She comes to Zurich from Sun Life (Hong Kong) Limited, where she managed the Legal, Compliance and Corporate Secretarial function and also served as a director on a number of boards.

Maurizio Busti brings to his new role a wide range of financial know-how which he has gained primarily at Zurich. As CFO of the Zurich International Life business, he led a team of 80 on the Isle of Man, Dubai and Switzerland in managing the financial planning and reporting, risks, and solvency positions of the Zurich International business. He has also held positions as Deputy Chief Actuary and Corporate Life Actuary for the Southern Europe region.

Chee Cheong comes to Zurich from ING Asia Pacific Ltd, where he was Deputy CEO. He brings over 33 years of market experience in the Asia Pacific region, 24 of which are in the Life Insurance sector. During his tenure at ING, Chee was responsible for the management and strategic development of ING's life insurance businesses in Taiwan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Thailand. He has also held CEO roles with Prudential Corporation Asia and the AXA Group.

Julian Lipman brings over 20 years experience in managing multi-national insurance companies, developing new markets and leading company acquisitions in Asia. Prior to joining Zurich, Julian served four years as CEO and President of PCA Life, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Prudential Group in Japan. He also held actuarial roles at ACE, AIA and Prudential.

Ted Ridgway spent the majority of his career at Prudential, where he held positions as CEO, Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand) and Chief Agency Development Officer, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore.

Jim Sykes began his career with Zurich in 1988 and has held several international assignments for the Group in Asia and Europe. These have included COO Global Life UK, Corporate Strategy Director International Businesses and actuarial roles in Asia.

Mandy Wong has 18 years experience as a human resources professional and leader. She has managed Human Resources teams supporting Life and GI businesses in Hong Kong and GI businesses in China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore.