Patrick was appointed non-executive director of the Company on 20 December 2006. He is Chief Growth Officer and a member of the Group Executive Committee of Zurich Financial Services as well as Vice Chairman of the Zurich Group Management Board. He joined Zurich’s UKISA Business Division in conjunction with the merger of the financial services arm of B.A.T Industries and the Zurich Group in 1998 as CEO, General Insurance and Banking. In December 2002, he became Group Finance Director and assumed his current position in March 2007. After qualifying with Arthur Andersen as a chartered accountant, he joined Bank of America working in London, Miami, Los Angeles and Frankfurt. In 1988 he joined the US investment bank Goldman Sachs as financial controller for Europe. He was appointed to the board of Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Capital in 1993 before leaving a year later to join BZW, the former investment banking arm of Barclays Bank plc, as Head of International Banking & Structured Finance. In September 1996 he became BZW’s Chief Operating Officer and one year later he joined Eagle Star Insurance Company as Chief Executive. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, with a degree in business studies and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Furthermore, he holds a Master of Science degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics. He is chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.