It also was reported to have suffered heavy losses by the explosions at the port of Tianjin in China in August and from a tornado in Australia.
Zurich strategy
Zurich also recently surprised the financial adviser community in Singapore with its sudden decision to pull out of the international life business in the city state, where it had been a big part of the market for a long time.
At about the same time it exited the general insurance business in the Middle East.
These moves were part of a corporate-wide strategy to re-focus resources on the markets and customer segments where it has a real competitive advantage.
In September last year Zurich also abandoned a plan to buy the RSA Insurance Group after making a £5.6bn bid for the rival company.
