Alice Kane appointed North America General Counsel

Zurich, December 1, 2005 – Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) announced the appointment of Alice Kane to the newly created position of North America General Counsel, effective immediately. Alice Kane is responsible for Zurich's legal departments in the United States, which include North America Commercial (NAC), Farmers Group Inc., Centre and Zurich Capital Markets. She is located in New York and reports to Monica Maechler, Zurich's General Counsel and Company Secretary, as well as to Axel Lehman, CEO of NAC, and Paul Hopkins, CEO of Farmers, as it relates to their business divisions.

"We welcome the wealth of experience as a General Counsel and an Executive in the insurance and investment management industries that Alice brings to this important new role in our North American operations," said Monica Maechler.

Alice Kane was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at New York Life, a company she served for 26 years. Previously she served as Executive Vice President in charge of New York Life Asset Management, President of the American General Life Insurance Fund Group and more recently Chairman of Blaylock Asset Management.