Zurich Insurance Names Sharma General Insurance Chief for UK

Zurich Insurance Group AG, Switzerland’s biggest insurer, named group controller Vibhu Sharma to head of general insurance operations for the U.K.

Sharma, 48, will start in April, Louise Zucchi, company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement today. He will replace David Smith, who will stay through the first quarter of next year before retiring.

Sharma was named interim CFO after predecessor Pierre Wauthier killed himself in August last year, leaving a suicide note that implicated one of Switzerland’s most influential corporate figures and raised questions about his treatment at the company. In the note, Wauthier blamed former Chairman Josef Ackermann for creating an unbearable work environment.

George Quinn, who joined from reinsurer Swiss Re Ltd., took over from Sharma as CFO on May 1.

Zurich’s U.K. general insurance unit is its biggest non- life business in Europe, with $3.92 billion of gross written premiums last year.