Zurich Insurance General Insurance Head To Quit To Be Assicurazioni Generali CEO

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6/4/2012 3:06 AM ET

Zurich Insurance Group (ZURVY: Quote) Monday said Mario Greco, CEO General Insurance, has decided to return to Italy to be the chief executive of Assicurazioni Generali SpA (ARZGY.PK), as the Italian insurer revoked the powers of its CEO Giovanni Perissinotto.

Greco will be on leave with immediate effect. Zurich Group CEO Martin Senn will lead the General Insurance segment on an ad interim basis until a permanent replacement is found.

Greco joined Zurich in October 2007 and was appointed CEO Global Life in April 2008. He assumed the role of CEO General Insurance in July 2010.

Martin Senn said: "I would like to thank Mario for all he has done for Zurich. He has done an excellent job as CEO of both General Insurance and Global Life. While I deeply regret his departure, I fully understand and support his decision to take on this new challenge and wish him only the very best both from a business and personal point of view."

Meanwhile, Assicurazioni Generali said over the weekend that its Board of Directors decided to revoke the powers conferred on Giovanni Perissinotto as Managing Director and Group CEO of the company, ''due to the necessity to bring about change in the company's management.''

Additionally, the Board decided to terminate the employment contract between the company and Giovanni Perissinotto in his capacity as General Manager.

Perissinotto, who has served the company for over 30 years, was facing shareholder pressure owing to poor performance by the company.

The Board assigned the powers held by Perissinotto on a temporary basis to the Chairman of the company who is acting as Group CEO. The Board also decided to propose to Mario Greco his appointment as General Manager and Group CEO. The appointment will be effective after his co-option to the Board of Directors following termination of his employment with the Zurich Insurance Group.

Zurich Insurance closed lower by 0.76 percent on Friday at 197.10 Swiss francs on 599,735 shares.

Assicurazioni Generali shares were up 3.35 percent on Friday to close at 8.49 euros on 24.05 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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