On August 14, Zurich Insurance chairman Josef Ackermann receivedfinancial chief Pierre Wauthier and head of investor relationsJames Quin at his office overlooking Lake Zurich to finalise thecompany's second-quarter results, due for release the next day.

Most of the legwork was done. Chief Executive Martin Senn,promoted to the top job in 2010, had already taped a videopresentation for shareholders. Speaker notes and other materialprepared to help investors understand the earnings had also beencompleted, according to sources in the company.

But in a last-ditch move, Ackermann said the company shouldsignal its lack of progress with some of its three-year businesstargets set in 2010.

Wauthier (pictured) disagreed, according to one source, arguingthat Zurich should say it was progressing to “deliver” on thegoals.

Ackermann, a veteran of the hard-charging world of investmentbanking, prevailed, and the insurer told investors it wasprogressing “towards” the targets. That, along with a 17 percentdrop in first-half net profit, prompted a near 4 percent fall inthe share price.

The brief disagreement came less than two weeks before Wauthierkilled himself, an event that has shaken Zurich Insurance, promptedAckermann to resign, and focused attention on the former investmentbanker's management style.

In a typed suicide note, addressed, “To whom it may concern”,Wauthier described himself as demoralised after months of a new,more aggressive tone at Zurich under Ackermann, according toseveral people who have seen the letter.

Wauthier cited the encounter over the targets in the note.

Related Stories: ZurichChairman Ackermann Resigns over CFO Suicide | AckermannCited in Suicide Note of Zurich CFO

Zurich has celebrated a “boring” image in the years sinceturning around from a near-collapse in 2002 following a ill-judgedexpansion strategy. Ackermann's blunt style was a huge change forWauthier, used to a more consensual culture.

“He clearly had been feeling it for a very long time,” a sourcewho has seen Wauthier's note told Reuters.

Ackermann declined to comment. Through a company spokeswoman,investor relations head Quin declined to comment.

Zurich said there was no evidence of a dispute between the twomen over the company's outlook, and both the board and executivecommittee agreed on the company's message.

The insurer has launched an internal review to see whetherWauthier, a 53 year-old dual French-British citizen, had been putunder undue strain but is still working on the details, aspokeswoman said.

People close to Ackermann acknowledged the difference of opinionover how the results should be presented, but said such debates arenot unusual in a company like Zurich.

“If this was seen as unbearable pressure, then something elsemust have been wrong,” one of these people said.

NO WARNING SIGNS

Credited with transforming Deutsche Bank into an investmentbanking powerhouse, Ackermann, a Swiss national, took over thechairmanship of Zurich Insurance last year, determined to shake itup.

The 65-year old was much more involved in the day-to-day runningof Zurich than past chairmen, according to sources.

Described by people familiar with his thinking as a “numbersperson”, Ackermann used to hold one-on-one meetings with Wauthier,an unusual move for a non-executive chairman, and quickly immersedhimself in details of the insurer's accounts.

A failure to set aside enough money to cover claims at itsGerman arm had hit profits last year, and weak investment returnsand heavy exposure to disasters in the United States had shakeninvestor confidence. The company's stock was underperformingEuropean peers, and several top-level managers had left, givingrise to talk of a brain drain, sources inside Zurich say.

Several sources say there were no outward signs of tension atthe meeting on the eve of the results announcement, and Wauthierdidn't appear to be distressed.

Twelve days later, his body was found at his home, a formerlakeside inn outside Zurich that the Wauthier family was in theprocess of renovating. His wife and two children were abroad at thetime. They declined to comment to Reuters.

Colleagues and investors who met Wauthier in meetings in Londondays before he killed himself did not detect any warning signs. Heresponded to emails as recently as the day before his death,according to company sources.