(Bloomberg) -- Martin Senn, the Zurich Insurance Group AG chief executive officer whostepped down in a Decemberreshuffle, has committed suicide, the company said ina statement on Monday. He was 59.

The family informed Zurich Insurance that Senn had taken his ownlife on Friday, according to the statement. "We are profoundlyshocked by the news of the sudden death," the company said.

Senn was found in his holiday house in Klosters, a Swiss skiresort, Blick newspaper reported. The cantonal police of Grisonswouldn’t confirm the death but said officers had been deployed onFriday in connection with Senn.

‘Huge Loss’

“This is a huge loss; Martin Senn was an amazing person,” saidMartin Naville, CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce,where Senn had served as president. “Human beings are hard tounderstand but we have to accept his decision.”

Senn in December acknowledged “setbacks” in the months beforehis departure after higher-than-expected claims at thegeneral-insurance unit forced the company to abandon a takeover bidfor RSA Insurance Group Plc. The company later announced anoverhaul of the general-insurance business.

During Senn’s five years as CEO, Zurich Insurance rose about 19%and paid out record dividends of 17 Swiss francs a share. In hisbiggest acquisition, he bought a 51% stake in Banco Santander SA’sinsurance division for $1.67 billion in 2011. Two years later,Chief Financial Officer Pierre Wauthier committed suicideand Josef Ackermann quit.

‘Conservative approach’

Senn’s “conservative approach” helped Zurich Insurance perform wellduring the financial crisis, when he was the chief investmentofficer, said Andreas Schaefer, an analyst at Bankhaus Lampe.“Zurich’s asset side never caused any problems and the company didwell compared with its peers,” he said. Schaefer has a hold ratingon the stock.

Mario Greco, the former CEO ofItaly’s Assicurazioni Generali SpA, assumed Senn’s role in March.UBS Group AG CEO Sergio Ermotti was set to take over as presidentof the chamber of commerce in June.

Senn started at Zurich in 2006 as CIO and became CEO in 2010. Hejoined from Switzerland’s biggest life insurer, Swiss Life HoldingAG, and held several positions at Credit Suisse Group AG.

When he was 26, Senn became treasurer of the Hong Kong branch ofSchweizerischer Bankverein, today known as UBS Group AG.

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