Zurich strengthens global accident and health unit with new senior hires

Zurich Insurance Group has added three new senior members to its commercial insurance accident and health (A&H) underwriting group as it said it seeks growth across various geographies.

Zurich has appointed Chris Howard as head of A&H in the US, Nicole Yates as head of A&H in Australia, and Stephane Baj as head of A&H in the UK and Multinational A&H.

Howard joins Zurich North America from WNC Insurance Services where he was president of the accident and health division. Previously, he held various senior roles at Chubb.

Yates re-joins Zurich Australia and is based in Melbourne. Previously, she was at AXA XL where she led the Australian and New Zealand wholesale and retail A&H business. From 2010 to 2016, she worked at Zurich as a senior underwriting manager in A&H.

Baj joins Zurich UK from Chubb where he spent the past 13 year and held various senior roles including head of A&H in France, regional director for corporate and affinity EMEA, and most recently head of partnerships for Continental Europe.

Sierra Signorelli, chief underwriting officer, commercial insurance, said: “Accident and Health continues to be an attractive market with strong growth potential. Our large commercial customer base and strong global network combined with our underwriting expertise and unified product offering uniquely position Zurich to become a leading global provider in the A&H business.”

Drazen Jaksic, head of accident and health, added: “We are delighted to welcome Chris, Nicole and Stephane to the team. They are proven and highly experienced specialists in the A&H business. I am confident that their appointments will allow us to take the business to the next level in key markets.”