Dr. Pierin Vincenz proposed as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Helvetia

Since the unforeseen death of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Erich Walser, on December 30, 2014, the Helvetia Holding AG’s Board of Directors has been led in the interim by Vice-President Doris Russi Schurter. The Board of Directors of Helvetia Holding AG has decided to propose Dr. Pierin Vincenz to take on the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors from October 1, 2015, to the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of April 24, 2015. Dr. Pierin Vincenz has been a member of the Helvetia Group’s Board of Directors since 2000 and is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Raiffeisen Group. If elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Helvetia, he will – in agreement with the Raiffeisen Group – step down as its CEO as of September 30, 2015. He will therefore hand over the role to his successor, Dr. Patrik Gisel, earlier than had already been announced.

Doris Russi Schurter, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Helvetia Holding AG, said: “In Dr. Pierin Vincenz we have been able to gain a competent, experienced manager and energetic personality from the ranks of the existing Board of Directors as our new Chairman. With the support of the Board and together with the Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Loacker, and all the Executive Management, he will ensure the integration of Nationale Suisse into Helvetia, as well as the successful further development of the newly formed group.”

In addition, the Board of Directors is also proposing that the Shareholders’ Meeting elects Dr. Patrik Gisel as a new member, likewise from October 1, 2015. He is the Chief Executive Officer-elect of the Raiffeisen Group, of whose Executive Management he has been part of since 2000. After completing a degree in business studies and a PhD to become a Doctor of Economics at the University of St. Gallen, he worked as a consultant in the banking and insurance industry at the Boston Consulting Group in Zurich. Before joining Raiffeisen, he was an IT manager at UBS. Pending election by the Shareholders’ Meeting, Dr. Patrik Gisel will represent Raiffeisen Switzerland, one of the three biggest shareholders and a member of the shareholder pool of the Helvetia Group, on the Board of Directors and will take over from Dr. Pierin Vincenz in this role.