Dateline: 23/04/2001
New Presence in Australia Reflects Growth Prospects
SCHAUMBURG, IL, April 24, 2001 -- Zurich Global Energy (ZGE) has named Paul Schappacher Director of Asia-Pacific Property at Zurich Global Energy’s newly opened Melbourne, Australia, office, the company announced today. The company opened the Melbourne office in February to offer expanded service to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
In his new position, Schappacher will be responsible for developing the energy property book of business, as well as coordinating the casualty and exploration and production client business within this region. In addition, he will be working closely with a team of industry-trained Zurich risk engineering and claims specialists who understand the governmental and regulatory requirements of the Asia-Pacific market. Prior to joining Zurich Global Energy, Mr. Schappacher spent seventeen years at AIG, where, since 1992, he was Energy Manager for Australia, New Zealand, and Papua-New Guinea.
"We have long been contemplating an office in Australia, and we are pleased to have Paul at the helm. His longstanding experience in this region and our focus on energy customers will give us an opportunity to expand our presence in this dynamic market, and better serve the needs of our clients," said Pete Connors, President and CEO of Zurich Global Energy.
Zurich Global Energy specializes in providing comprehensive risk solutions, risk engineering services and claims support tailored to the individual needs of oil and gas, petrochemical, natural resources, mining and power generation customers worldwide. It has offices in Atlanta, Bermuda, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Zurich and the Asia-Pacific region.
Zurich Global Energy is a part of Zurich North America (www.zurichna.com), a leading commercial property-casualty, health and accident insurance provider serving the multinational, middle market and small business sectors in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., Zurich North America has 11,650 employees and writes $8.0 billion in annual premiums. Zurich North America business units are the Zurich U.S. pool of companies (Corporate Customer, Middle Markets, Small Business, Strategic Partnerships, Construction, Specialties, Zurich Global Energy, Warranty, Fidelity & Deposit, Empire Fire and Marine and Universal Underwriters Group) and Zurich Canada. The Zurich U.S. pool of companies is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and AA+ (Excellent) by Standard & Poor's. Zurich North America is a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group.
The Zurich Financial Services Group (www.zurich.com) 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 73,000 people. Based on consolidated figures for 2000, the Group achieved gross premiums of USD 50 billion. This amount includes insurance deposits as well as premiums from the Farmers P&C Group. The net income amounted to USD 2.33 billion. On December 31, 2000, the Group had USD 440 billion of assets under management of which USD 259 billion represent funds managed for third-party institutional and retail customers.
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Media contacts:
Elizabeth Woods
Zurich Global Energy
(212) 676-4864
elizabeth.woods@zurichna.com
Betty Schwartz
Miller DeMartine Group
(201) 567-7783
bschwartz@mdgpr.com