Dateline: 27/09/2000
Strengthens Focus on Claims, Property Underwriting, Environmental
SCHAUMBURG, IL, September 27, 2000 -- Zurich U.S., a leading commercial property and casualty insurance company, announced it has appointed four new executives to help manage the company’s rapidly growing presence in the southwestern United States.
Mark Wall is the senior regional vice president for financial services at The Fidelity and Deposit Companies (F&D) in Denver, CO. F&D is a unit of Zurich U.S. that provides fidelity bonds, D&O, property & casualty, and other risk management solutions to the financial services industry. He will be responsible for retaining and expanding F&D’s business across the Western region of the United States, and for leading and managing the regional sales executives. Mr. Wall joined F&D’s Claims Division in 1987, and was most recently a Financial Services Executive. Prior to F&D, Mr. Wall worked as a Claims Adjuster for Commercial Union Insurance Company.
Neil DeBlock is the new claims manager, overseeing the Los Angeles claims operation. Based in Woodland Hills, CA, he has been with Zurich U.S. since 1996, most recently as the Regional Product Supervisor for the Northeastern United States. Before coming to Zurich U.S., Mr. DeBlock was with General Accident Insurance and Aetna Property and Casualty.
John Montgomery is the branch manager for the Property Group in Zurich U.S.’ western zone. He is based in Glendale, CA, and is responsible for underwriting management of the company’s Diversified Property business in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Mr. Montgomery was previously Chief Property Underwriter for the West, South and Southeast United States for LMG Property. Prior to that, he was with Wausau Insurance Companies for twenty-one years, most recently as AVP Special Risk Property for the Western Division based in the Los Angeles office.
Alex D. Liu, also based in Glendale, is the new regional sales executive, Zurich U.S. Environmental. He is responsible for developing the company’s environmental business and managing the regional producer network in the Southwest. Prior to joining Zurich U.S., Mr. Liu was at AIG Environmental for four years, overseeing environmental underwriting in the middle market and marketing mono-line pollution and casualty products in Southern California, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.
"Adding these new managers signals Zurich U.S.’ commitment to our customers in the southwestern and western United States," said Pam McSmith, regional vice president. "These four individuals will help us build on our existing strengths in property underwriting, environmental services, financial services and claims, and will also develop new products and services that address our customers’ needs. We look forward to their contributions."
Zurich U.S. (www.zurichna.com) is a leading commercial property-casualty insurance provider serving the multinational, middle market and small business sectors in the United States. Headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill. and operating in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Zurich U.S. has 6,400 employees and assets of $10.2 billion. The company writes more than $4 billion in annual premiums. Zurich U.S.’ business units are Enterprise Risk, Diversified Products, Small Business, Construction, Global Energy, Specialties, Zurich Services and Fidelity & Deposit. Zurich U.S. is a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group, a global leader in the financial industry. Zurich U.S. is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and AA+ (Excellent) by Standard & Poor’s.
The Zurich Financial Services Group is a global leader in the financial services industry, providing its customers with solutions in the area of financial protection and asset accumulation. The Group concentrates its activities in five business segments: non-life and life insurance, reinsurance, Farmers Management Services, and asset management. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the Group’s worldwide presence builds on strong positions in its three key markets -- the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. It has offices in more than 60 countries reaching over 35 million customers and employing 68,000 people. Based on consolidated figures for 1999, the Group achieved gross premiums of USD 48 billion. This amount includes insurance deposits as well as premiums from the Farmers Exchanges. The net income amounted to USD 3.26 billion. On June 30, 2000, the Group had USD 435 billion of assets under management, of which USD 260 billion represent funds managed for third-party institutional and retail customers.
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Media contacts:
Fran Harding
Zurich U.S.
(410) 338-9500
fran.harding@zurichna.com
Caroline Luz
Miller DeMartine Group
(203) 221-2790
cluz@mdgpr.com