Juliana Marra, General Counsel of Zurich Argentina.

MARIA JULIANA MARRA BECAME THE GENERAL COUNSEL FOR GRUPO Zurich in Argentina in November 2015, approximately a decade after she first joined the company.

According to Marra, Zurich Insurance Group is a leading multiline insurer that provides a wide range of property and casualty and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich's customers include individuals, small businesses and midsize and large companies, as well as multinational corporations.

Marra says the parent company is headquartered in Zurich, where it was founded in 1872. The Argentine branch has more than 50 years of history in the market.

What she wishes she had known about being a GC before taking on that role, according to Marra, is it's all about people.

"Having a strong team to help achieve your goals is key," she notes.

LEGAL TEAM: The Zurich legal and compliance team in Argentina has nine lawyers. Grupo Zurich is headquartered in Buenos Aires. The company outsources a portion of its work.

OUTSIDE COUNSEL: Marra says that her team's main outside counsel is Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, the largest law firm in Argentina. "The partner in charge of our account is Pablo Cereijido, who specializes in insurance law," she says.

DAILY DUTIES: Noting that her daily duties vary from day to day, Marra says she has different types of tactical duties.

Her team-related duties include coaching her team, reviewing the allocation of tasks and ensuring her team has up-to-date technical skills. Her financial duties include budgeting control, assessment of external advice versus internal allocation and salaries.

Marra says there are some critical issues that need her personal involvement, such as issues that might have an impact from a financial standpoint or on the company's reputation. A lot of her attention is focused on compliance-related matters. Compliance is key to implementation and maintenance of high ethical standards and compliance with local and global regulations, she says.

External matters also take some of Marra's time. She cites the need for close interaction with regulators, attending legal and compliance forums to stay up to date with regulatory changes and coming trends and interaction with external law firms and other stakeholders.

ROUTE TO THE TOP: Marra says she attended the Argentine Catholic University, graduating in 2003. She received a master's degree in corporate law in 2004 and master's in corporate law in 2006, both from the Catholic University. Her first jobs were as a junior lawyer at two different local law firms.

Marra joined Zurich's legal department in 2005 and was promoted to senior lawyer in the department in 2008. She then moved into the company's compliance department, serving first as a team leader and later promoted into management.

In August 2014, Marra moved to JPMorgan Chase & Co. as vice president for money laundering coverage strategy for the Latin American region. She returned to Grupo Zurich in November 2015 to become the general counsel.

PERSONAL: When not working, Marra, 37, stays busy at home. She is the mother of three boys: Pedro, 10; Gonzalo, 7; and Augusto, 5. "Most of my time is dedicated to my kids, but I also enjoy cooking and gardening," she says.

LAST BOOK READ: Marra recently read two books: "Tomorrow's Lawyers," by Richard Susskind, and "South of the Border, West of the Sun," a novel by Haruki Murakami.

WHAT KEEPS HER UP AT NIGHT: Notes Marra: "Argentina is undergoing a period of positive changes. Regulations have changed and will continue evolving in the next years. My main concern is not to underestimate the impact or risk associated with the changing environment."

PRIORITIES: Marra says her children and her work are her priorities.