By John Letzing
ZURICH--The widow of Zurich Insurance Group AG's late chief
financial officer publicly confronted executives at the firm
Wednesday, alleging an investigation into her husband's suicide was
incomplete.
In remarks made at the company's annual shareholders meeting,
Fabienne Wauthier cited months of internal tension at the
Zurich-based insurer prior to her husband Pierre's suicide in
August 2013. She also said the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory
Authority, known as Finma, had been "derelict" in overseeing the
probe of conditions at the company.
"How can anyone, Finma included, so categorically exclude work
from all the potential reasons," she asked, as the company's
executives looked on silently. Ms. Wauthier brandished a personal
laptop computer she said her husband had used, saying investigators
didn't bother to examine it as part of the probe into his
death.
Ms. Wauthier's appearance at the annual meeting revisits a
tumultuous period for the insurance giant, which was thrown into
turmoil after Mr. Wauthier's body was found at his home outside of
Zurich last summer. In a typewritten suicide note, Mr. Wauthier
blamed Josef Ackermann, the company's chairman at the time, for
creating an unbearable work environment. Mr. Ackermann rejected the
notion he had been to blame for Mr. Wauthier's death when he
resigned a few days later.
The investigation, which was commissioned by Finma, cleared
company leaders, including Mr. Ackermann, of placing inappropriate
stress on Mr. Wauthier. Mr. Ackermann, a widely respected Swiss
business figure who had long served as chief executive at Deutsche
Bank AG before joining Zurich Insurance, has maintained a low
profile since.
A spokesman for Mr. Ackermann declined to make him available,
adding he has nothing more to say on the matter. A Finma spokesman
repeated that the regulator wouldn't comment on the results of the
investigation.
The turmoil at Zurich Insurance, one of the world's biggest
insurers, undermined investor confidence in the company as it was
struggling to achieve business targets it had established in 2010
and contributed to a slide in the company's shares to their lowest
level in eight months.
Though the company's profits have risen, it recently unveiled
plans to eliminate as much 1.5% of its 55,000-person global
workforce as it seeks to cut costs and streamline operations.
Mr. Wauthier's suicide cast a shadow over the annual meeting
from the start.
In opening remarks, Chief Executive Martin Senn acknowledged Mr.
Wauthier's death. "The grief and shock we experienced at the
suicide of our colleague Pierre Wauthier was enormous," he told
investors.
Flanked by family members, including her daughter, and dressed
in black, Ms. Wauthier spoke calmly and evenly as she castigated
Zurich Insurance for avoiding responsibility for her husband's
suicide.
Ms. Wauthier said the company can't discount pressure at work as
a reason for her husband's suicide, making only indirect reference
to Mr. Ackermann. She blasted the notion that reasons for her
husband's death could never be known.
"The way you handled Pierre's suicide is a sign that
unaccountability remains a part of Zurich's corporate culture," she
said. A spokesman for Zurich Insurance declined to comment.
Mr. Wauthier, a 53-year-old dual French-British citizen, joined
Zurich Insurance in 1996, working in a variety positions before
being appointed CFO in 2011. In that role, the mild-mannered
executive found himself the target of Mr. Ackermann, who was
frustrated by the company's stodgy culture, according to former
colleagues.
Tom de Swaan, who was elevated to chairman after Mr. Ackermann's
departure, told shareholders the investigation revealed no evidence
of undue pressure on Mr. Wauthier.
"We will never know the reasons" for Mr. Wauthier's suicide, he
said.
Andrew Morse contributed to this article.
Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com
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