Pierre Wauthier ran a half-marathon race to celebrate his 50th birthday three years ago. Last month, Wauthier ended his life and left a note criticizing Josef Ackermann, one of Europe's most prominent names in the financial industry. The decision of the Zurich Insurance Group AG's chief financial officer to end his life left many friends and co-workers deeply shocked. He was often referred to as a hard working and a great problem solver who brought humor to the dry world of the insurance industry.

Ackermann decided to step down from his post as chairman of Zurich Insurance. The 53 year old executive decided to exit the insurer after having been mentioned in the suicide note of Wauthier. Zurich Insurance held a memorial service for Wauthier today at a Grossmuenster church in Zurich.

Independent insurance industry consultant Paul Goodhind said, "Pierre was a resilient chap, and his suicide seems totally out of character. Pierre had an air of self-confidence about him, and I always saw him as a high flyer." Goodhind said he had known the demised CFO at the time he started following the insurer as an analyst.

The abrupt departure of Ackermann caused the insurer's shares to go down to as much as 3.8% last August 29.