Peter Hirs
Skills and experience
Peter Hirs is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Zurich North America. In this role, he has responsibility for the Actuarial, Controller, Corporate Tax, Treasury, Planning & Expense Management and Business Analysis & Insights functions. He is a member of the North America Executive Committee, Zurich Group Leadership Team and Group Finance Executive Team.
In his previous role as CFO for Zurich Asia Pacific, Hirs led the transition of a regional finance organization, enhancing the capabilities and improving the performance of the finance function to help support and drive the business. He joined Zurich in 2005 as a Senior Project Manager in Group Mergers & Acquisitions and has held several senior positions across the business, including CFO for Global Corporate North America and CFO for Switzerland. Prior to joining Zurich, he was based in New York and worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston and was a casualty underwriter at Winterthur International.
External appointments
Hirs has served on the Board of Directors for AIRROC, a reinsurance industry association that represents the interests of entities with legacy business by improving industry standards and enhancing knowledge within and outside the industry. While serving as CFO of Zurich Switzerland, he represented Zurich and the Swiss insurance industry as a member of business delegations, accompanying visits of the government of Switzerland to Asia. He also served on the board of the German-Swiss International School in Hong Kong.
Educational background
Hirs earned his Master of Law degree from the University of Zurich in 1994 and passed the bar exam in Switzerland in 1996. He completed a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in 2000.