Nationale Suisse appoints Chief Underwriting & Risk Management Officer

15 september 2011 Nationale Suisse / Nationale Suisse appoints Chief Underwriting & Risk Management Officer . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. With effect from 1 December 2011, Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez is to join the Executive Board of Nationale Suisse to head up the new Underwriting & Risk Management Division. As part of its plan to further strengthen risk monitoring of the company as a whole, the insurance portfolio and peak insurance risks, Nationale Suisse is to establish a new Underwriting & Risk Management Executive Board Division. The Swiss insurance group is taking this step in particular in response to growing pressure on margins in the private and corporate client segment and accelerated growth in the international specialty lines business. With effect from 1 December 2011, Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez (39) will assume the role of Chief Underwriting & Risk Management Officer at Nationale Suisse at Executive Board level. The mathematics graduate (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH) and qualified actuary (Swiss Association of Actuaries, SAV) was most recently employed as Head of Zurich Connect and member of the Executive Board of Zurich Switzerland. Her career has involved a number of different national and international managerial roles, including as Reserving Actuary, Pricing Actuary and Chief Underwriting Officer for General Insurance at well- known insurers. Hans KÃ¼nzle, CEO of Nationale Suisse, commented: "We would like to extend a warm welcome to Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez and are confident that the new division will make a decisive contribution to the further improvement of our technical underwriting result in the medium to long term." Brief portrait Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez Degree in mathematics (ETH), Actuary SAV Born 1972, Swiss Citizen Member of the Executive Board, Head of the Underwriting & Risk Management Division (from 1Â December 2011) After completing her studies in mathematics at ETH Zurich, Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez joined Zurich Re in 1998 as a Reserving Actuary. She then spent four years at Converium in Mexico, where she worked as a Senior Pricing and Reserving Actuary and a Client Relationship Manager for Property & Casualty. She returned to Switzerland in 2005, initially joining the Winterthur Insurance Group as a Pricing Actuary for Non-Life. The following year, she joined the Executive Board of Zurich Switzerland as Chief Underwriting Officer for General Insurance, with responsibility for operational and technical underwriting for private and corporate clients. She assumed overall leadership of Zurich Connect in March 2011. With effect from 1 December 2011, Birgit Rutishauser Hernandez is to join the Executive Board of Nationale Suisse and head up the Underwriting & Risk Management Division. A photo can be downloaded from: www.nationalesuisse.com/press-photos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brief profile Nationale Suisse is an innovative, international focused product lines in and independent Swiss insurance group providing Switzerland, Italy, Spain, first-rate risk and pension solutions in non-life Germany, Belgium, and life business as well as a growing number of Liechtenstein, Malaysia, tailored specialty lines products. Consolidated Latin America and Turkey. gross premiums came to CHF 1.8 billion in 2010. The The headquarters of Swiss Group comprises the parent company and about 20 National Insurance Company subsidiaries and branch offices forÂ Ltd are in Basel. Nationale Suisse is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (NATN). On 30 June 2011, the Group employed 1,932 staff (full- time equivalents). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information Christina Hartmann Nationale Suisse Media relations Steinengraben 41 PhoneÂ Â Â Â Â Â +41 61 275 23 40 4003 Basel FaxÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â +41 61 275 22 21 Switzerland christina.hartmann@nationalesuisse.ch www.nationalesuisse.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key dates Publication of Annual Report 28.03.2012 Media conference to announce financial results at 28.03.2012 Hotel Widder, Zurich Financial analysts' conference at Hotel Widder, 28.03.2012 Zurich Annual General Meeting 10.05.2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer and exclusion of liability The purpose of this press release is to inform the public about certain events or developments arising from the company's business.Â The information published in this article is not an advertisement, offer or recommendation to engage in transactions involving securities or other products of Nationale Suisse or any other type of transaction. This press release may contain certain forward- looking statements.Â Even if these forward-looking statements reflect the opinion and expectations of Nationale Suisse, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors may lead to actual developments and results differing strongly from the expectations of Nationale Suisse. It is pointed out expressly that the statements and projections contained in this press release are selective in nature. Nationale Suisse provides no guarantee, either explicitly or implicitly, regarding the accuracy and completeness of the statements and forecasts published in this press release.Â Neither Nationale Suisse nor its executive bodies or senior managers accept any liability for any damage or losses arising directly or indirectly from the use of this press release.Â Unless otherwise provided by applicable binding law Nationale Suisse is under no obligation to update or amend the statements contained in this press release, be it in response to new information, future events or any other reasons. Updated post-publication information is available on our website www.nationalesuisse.com. You may find further details and forecasts about the business of Nationale Suisse there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- End of Message --- Nationale Suisse Steinengraben 41 Basel WKN: 1081197;ISIN: CH0010811971; Pressrelease_BRutishauser: http://hugin.info/100296/R/1546587/474498.pdf This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Nationale Suisse via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1546587]