(Bloomberg) – Zurich Insurance Group AG, Switzerland'sbiggest insurer, plans to cut spending on large technology projectsas it seeks to reduce costs, according to chief risk officerCecilia Reyes.

"Managing, harvesting the benefits from these investments" is achallenge, Reyes said in a Jan. 11 interview at Bloomberg's Londonoffice. "We will cut that back and be more focused."

Chief executive officer Mario Greco has said he wants to"attack" costs and save $1.5 billion from 2015 through 2019. Alongwith its European rivals, Zurich Insurance has struggled to improveprofitability as lackluster economic growth and record-low interestrates hurt investment income and prices in somemarkets remain subdued.

"We're being much better investing in technology, outsourcing,procurement," Reyes said. "That will be the source of growth ofprofits, not growing the top line."

Related: Zurich Insurance CEO Greco to 'attack' costs toboost payout

She did not rule out job cuts, saying the Swiss insurer has"many levers to pull to manage our costs." Zurich Insurance plansto expand its businesses in Latin America and Asia in 2017 whileboosting underwriting revenues in developed markets, Reyessaid.

Zurich Insurance, which has several offices across the U.K., isalso weighing moving operations if Brexit leads to companies losingthe passporting rights that allow them to sell productsand services throughout the European Union, Reyes said.

"Passporting rights are very important for Zurich," she said."And passporting into Britain is very important."