Zurich NA to hire 100 underwriters for middle market expansion

By Isha Marathe

Feb 25 - (The Insurer) - Zurich North America is investing in its U.S. middle market (USMM) business by making hires and expanding into new geographies by building on growth in its core P&C book of middle market business.

The additional investment will focus on adding 100 underwriting roles in the midsize segment across the country. The USMM business will offer a range of property, casualty, financial lines and specialties coverages tailored to the industry-specific needs of midsize businesses.

Solutions include insurance and risk engineering services for businesses in construction, technology, manufacturing, life sciences, financial and professional services, and other sectors.

"Middle market businesses are a growing force in the U.S. economy, and they aren't concentrated in just a handful of the largest cities. We want to meet these businesses and their brokers where they are," said Alex Wells, head of U.S. middle market for Zurich North America.

"Our middle market business formed as a distinct unit at Zurich five years ago, and the success we've had since then validates three of our driving principles...Investing in this next expansion is the latest way we're executing on our principles."

Zurich North America first set up its USMM business in 2020, and has since brought solutions like an admitted primary products liability policy for life sciences companies, My Zurich Broker Concierge, which provides brokers on-demand access to loss runs and transaction status, and Smart Renewals, which enable many accounts to be fast-tracked for renewal without a full re-underwriting process.

Lisa Diers, who has been with Zurich for 28 years, will be the head of onboarding & development for middle market. She has experience in technical underwriting, field underwriting management, referral underwriting, and product and system development. She previously was middle market head of underwriting quality and compliance.

"In a time of rapid team growth, we want to ensure our new joiners are set up for success," said John Mizzi, COO for U.S. middle market at Zurich.

"We recently created a new role, head of onboarding & development, to provide comprehensive training and a supportive environment. We also are creating cohorts of new joiners who start at the same time so they have a strong internal network from day one."