Sale of businesses in the Philippines and cooperation agreement for the International Program Business

Zurich, November 4, 2003 - Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) has today announced that it has signed an agreement for the sale of its wholly owned Non-life subsidiary in the Philippines, Zurich General Insurance Philippines, Inc., to Standard Insurance Company, Inc., Manila (Standard). Based on a mutual cooperation agreement Standard will, upon completion of the transaction, act as a cooperative partner of Zurich to serve Zurich’s International Program Business’ corporate customers in the Philippines. Zurich has further announced today that it has signed an agreement for the sale of the insurance portfolio of its subsidiary Zurich Life Philippines, Inc. to The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Phils.), Inc. (Manulife). The two transactions, for which terms and conditions have not been disclosed, require the approval of local regulatory authorities.

The decision to exit these businesses in the Philippines is in line with Zurich’s strategy, to allocate capital to core markets in order to generate sustained profitable growth.

At the end of 2002, Zurich General Insurance Philippines, Inc. and Zurich Life Philippines, Inc. had generated USD 16.5 million in gross written premiums.

Zurich and the buyers have begun a communications program designed to keep all stakeholders informed. Zurich is confident that both Standard and Manulife will continue to offer an excellent service to customers. No redundancies are expected as a result of these transactions.