At the 7 May 2009 General Meeting, the Board of Directors of Swiss Life Holding Ltd will propose to shareholders that Frank Schnewlin be elected to the Board. Frank Schnewlin, former CEO of the Baloise Group and before that a member of the Group Executive Committee of the Zurich Financial Services Group, has broad international experience in the insurance industry and an outstanding track record. Bruno Gehrig on the nomination of Frank Schnewlin: "I am delighted and also proud that we managed to recruit such an experienced and renowned personality for Swiss Life's Board of Directors. With his in-depth knowledge of the international insurance industry, enormous experience and broad network of contacts, he will be a valuable addition to our board."
After serving on the Swiss Life Board of Directors for six years, Pierfranco Riva will no longer be standing for re-election at the General Meeting in May 2009, for reasons of age. Bruno Gehrig: "I wish to thank Pierfranco Riva warmly for his valuable contribution to the successful development of the Swiss Life Group over the past years. With his great knowledge of the field, and his personality, he contributed greatly to the cooperation on the board."
As announced earlier, Bruno Gehrig, Chairman of the Board, will not be standing for re-election at the 2009 General Meeting either. Bruno Gehrig joined Swiss Life in 2003 at a difficult moment in the company's history. Under his leadership, Swiss Life successfully turned itself around and put its corporate governance on a totally new footing adapted to the challenges at hand. Because of his election to the UBS Board of Directors in October 2008, Bruno Gehrig will leave the Swiss Life Board earlier than originally planned. As already announced, Rolf Dörig, who was elected to the Board of Directors at the General Meeting in May 2008 after five years as Group CEO, will take over as Chairman of the Board to succeed Bruno Gehrig after the General Meeting in May 2009.
Frank Schnewlin: summary CV
Frank Schnewlin (b. 1951) studied at the University of St. Gallen (lic. oec. HSG), the London School of Economics (Master of Science) and the Harvard Business School (MBA) before earning his doctorate in economics in 1983 at the University of Lausanne (Dr. ès. sc. écon). From 1983 to 2001 he held various positions at the Zurich Financial Services Group, including Head of Corporate Center and Head of the Business Division Southern Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He served on that company's Group Executive Committee from 1993. From 2002 to 2007, Frank Schnewlin headed the Baloise Group Corporate Executive Committee as CEO.
The curriculum vitae and a photograph of Frank Schnewlin are available at www.swisslife.com/en/schnewlin.
The Swiss Life Group is one of Europe's leading providers of life insurance and pension solutions. The Group offers individuals and corporations a broad range of products combined with comprehensive advice through its own sales force as well as brokers and banks in Switzerland, France and Germany. It provides internationally operating corporations with employee benefits solutions from a single source, and is among the global leaders in structured life and pension products for high net worth individuals with its centres of competence in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Singapore.
Swiss Life is the majority shareholder of the Hanover-based AWD Group, one of Europe's top financial services providers for the medium- and high-income customer segments. AWD offers its clients independent financial advisory services. Around 6300 advisors and intermediaries work for the AWD Group in ten European countries.
Swiss Life Holding Ltd, registered in Zurich, was founded in 1857 as Schweizerische Rentenanstalt. The shares of Swiss Life Holding Ltd are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SLHN). The Swiss Life Group employs a staff of around 9000.
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