Zurich Appoints Grünbichler Head of Group Risk Management Policy and Research

Zurich Financial Services announced the appointment of Andreas Grünbichler to Head its newly created Group Risk Management Policy and Research Unit, effective immediately.

“In this new position, Grünbichler will lead the Risk Management Research, a new function within Group Risk Management,” said the bulletin.

Before joining Zurich, he served as co-chief executive of the Financial Market Authority of Austria in Vienna. From 1995 to 2001 he was Professor of Finance at the University of St. Gallen where he also served as Director of the Swiss Institute of Banking and Finance 1995.

Grünbichler would seem to be a perfect choice for Zurich’s new department. Speaking about the effects of regulation at the European Insurance Summit in October in Vienna, he noted that it was “neither a curse, nor a blessing,” and that new rules, proposed by the European Union would stress the assessment of risk levels as a priority.

“The insurance industry affects the way companies think of their business lines, new markets and risk management,” he observed. “Insurance companies therefore have to understand risk – the quantities they manage and how they manage them.” He will no doubt be bringing that wisdom to his new employer.

Topics Risk Management