Zurich Insurance Group on Friday said it would investigate whether undue pressure was placed on Pierre Wauthier, the company's late chief financial officer, whose suicide triggered the sudden exit of chairman Josef Ackermann.Mr. Ackermann, one of Europe's best-known finance executives and a former CEO of Deutsche Bank, quit his post earlier this week, saying that Mr. Wauthier's family was in part blaming him for the death.
In a call with investors and media early Friday, Zurich Insurance said a letter had been left by Mr. Wauthier, who was found dead at his home on Monday, relating to the relationship between Messrs. Ackermann and Wauthier.
Police in Zug, where Mr. Wauthier lived, declined to comment on the existence of a letter on Friday. However, spokesman Marcel Schlatter said the investigation determined Mr. Wauthier's death was a suicide.
Zurich Insurance Chief Executive Martin Senn said he didn't want to speak about the contents of the letter, but the company would be looking into whether any unnecessary pressure had been placed on Mr. Wauthier.
"I want to be crystal clear, we take corporate culture and behavior very seriously," Mr. Senn told investors.
He said recent developments had nothing to do with the quality of financial reporting at the company.
"It had nothing to with the reporting format, or the quality of our reporting or the accuracy of our reporting," he said.
It was entirely Mr. Ackermann's decision to leave, Zurich Insurance said, with a new chairman to be appointed by the time of its next annual general meeting in April.
Mr. Ackermann didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Mr. Senn said there was no link between Mr. Wauthier's death and the company's recent financial performance. Zurich Insurance's business has been squeezed recently, hit by a series of natural disasters that raised its obligations, and a low-interest-rate environment.
The disclosure of a letter from Mr. Wauthier is the latest in a chain of events that began Monday, after the executive was found dead at his family's home. After an extraordinary board meeting, Mr. Ackermann resigned, issuing a statement rebutting what he said were groundless allegations about Mr. Wauthier's death. Adding to the confusion, however, he didn't detail those allegations, and Mr. Wauthier's family hasn't discussed them publicly. The family wasn't immediately reachable for comment Friday.
"I have reasons to believe the family is of the opinion that I should take my share of responsibility, as unfounded as any allegations might be," Mr. Ackermann said in the statement. He added that he was resigning to avoid damage to Zurich Insurance's reputation.