Zurich Insurance Group has begun a process to bring its life and non-life insurance business closer together with a restructure of its senior management and businesses globally.
The insurer said that the new structure will reduce complexity and simplify the structure for customers.
The new structure is the acceleration and globalization of work already underway countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Italy, combining life and non-life under one leadership team and applying a unified approach across the regions.
Mario Greco, group chief executive officer at Zurich Insurance Group said: "This new organization will be more agile and more accountable, with a clearer line of sight between the top of the company and the people looking after our customers.
"We will approach our target customers with a unified and distinctive face to the market. We will prioritize sound customer outcomes and in so doing ensure that the business delivers consistent levels of profitability."
"I want to renew the sense of an ambitious, entrepreneurial and innovative culture at Zurich, where talented team members put the customer at the center of everything they do and have all the tools to develop their business within a clearly defined framework towards a shared vision for the company overall."
New leadership structure
Zurich will be organized in a customer-oriented structure in which the heads of regions (North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Latin America; Asia Pacific), Global Corporate, Farmers and Investment Management will report to the Group CEO.
Zurich is also creating the role of chief operating officer, which will combine responsibility for operations and technology with underwriting, claims, reinsurance, actuarial and pricing.
The Zurich Executive Committee from July 1, 2016, will be formed of the following members:
• Mario Greco - Group CEO
• Urban Angehrn - Chief Investment Officer
• Jeff Dailey - CEO Farmers
• Mike Foley - CEO North America
• George Quinn - Chief Financial Officer
• Cecilia Reyes - Chief Risk Officer
• Gary Shaughnessy - CEO EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)
• Kristof Terryn - Chief Operating Officer
Robert Dickie, chief operations and technology officer, has decided to step down by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors to pursue other opportunities outside Zurich.
He has agreed to support the transition and will leave the company in the coming months.
UK Life business impact
A spokesperson for Zurich said of the changes and the impact to UK business: "The changes are primarily focused at a Group level to move from separate global businesses for Life and Non-Life to regional businesses that span both Life and Non-Life.
"The aim is to reduce complexity and empower teams in countries to deliver products and services in a unique and differentiated way - aiming to provide the best possible customer experience. The commitment to the UK Life and GI markets remains as strong as ever.
"There is no impact to the UK Life strategy as a result of these changes. We continue to support the retail and corporate intermediary markets. Over the past two years, we have invested heavily in our business to bring new products and services to our customers and distribution partners.
"There are no plans for any material reductions in UK roles in connection to the announcement today."
