Headquarters:
118 Mount St, North Sydney, NSW 2060
Year founded:
1920
Number of employees:
1,800+
Phone:
132 687
Email:
generalenquiries@zurich.com.au
Website:
zurich.com.au
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/showcase/zurich.australia
“Our gold rating in BDM support reflects what brokers tell us matters most: having the right people on the ground, accessible and empowered to act. It’s a key part of what underpins our overall performance and the strength of our broker partnerships”
Anthony Pagano, Vero
Matthew O'Sullivan
Chief Underwriting Officer
Alex Morgan
Head of General Insurance
James Garrett
Head of SME
Leadership
As head of general insurance, Alex Morgan is responsible for managing the overall general insurance business, including accountability for our market proposition in underwriting, claims, distribution and partnerships. He also has responsibility for communicating Zurich’s vision to deliver the best outcomes for brokers and customers.
Prior to this, Morgan was the chief risk officer for Zurich in APAC. He has been with the firm for over 10 years and held underwriting leadership roles in Sydney, London, Tokyo and Singapore. He brings more than 20 years of diverse industry experience, having held a variety of broking, underwriting and leadership roles during his insurance career.
Head of General Insurance
Alex Morgan
Matthew O'Sullivan is the chief underwriting officer at Zurich Australia within the executive leadership team for general insurance. In this role, he sets the strategic direction for the firm’s underwriting portfolio, driving forward-thinking solutions that empower brokers and support our customers’ evolving needs.
Since joining Zurich in 2014, O'Sullivan has held key senior positions, including APAC regional head of marine, head of property, engineering and marine and head of motor and marine. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (University of Sydney) and an MBA (Macquarie University). He is a fellow of ANZIIF and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Matthew O'Sullivan
James Garrett is head of SME at Zurich Australia and New Zealand, leading the growth and evolution of the firm’s SME proposition. With over a decade of experience managing high-performing underwriting teams, he has a proven track record in delivering disciplined growth, portfolio optimisation and operational excellence.
Garrett currently oversees an SME portfolio achieving strong growth through a modern, digitally enabled platform that enhances broker experience, accelerates speed to market and strengthens pricing precision. He is focused on leveraging data, technology and underwriting expertise to drive sustainable growth, respond to market dynamics and help shape the future of SME insurance delivery.
Head of SME
James Garrett
Melissa Starfield
Head of Strategic Broker Management
With over 25 years of experience, Melissa Starfield is the head of strategic broker management at Zurich Australia. In this national role, she shapes the firm’s overarching broker strategy, actively championing broker voices and insights to foster sustainable, collaborative growth.
Starfield is a forward-thinking leader known for her clear communication and commercial rigour. A dedicated mentor, particularly for women in business, she cares deeply about building confident teams and enduring relationships that deliver standout market outcomes. Outside the office, she balances her career with raising three teenagers, bringing the same optimistic energy to her passions for running and travel.
Head of Strategic Broker Management
Melissa Starfield
Sarah Powell
State Manager, NSW/ACT
Sarah Powell leads the NSW/ACT team for Zurich’s general insurance business, engaging with strategic brokers across the state. With over 20 years in the industry, she joined the firm in 2015 after relocating from the UK. Her varied distribution roles at Zurich followed an early career in the London market with Brit Insurance and an EMEA placement role at Marsh.
Powell holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with French and is an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Committed to delivering for brokers and customers, she brings global perspective and experience to her leadership in the Australian insurance landscape.
State Manager, NSW/ACT
Sarah Powell
In a market where brokers demand speed, expertise and genuine partnership, Zurich has built a compelling case for why it deserves a place at the top of every broker’s shortlist. Anchored by deep underwriting capability, a bold investment in technology and an unwavering focus on the intermediated channel, the insurer has cemented itself as a broker-first business.
Zurich’s commercial insurance business in Australia is, as the company describes it, “a commercial insurer distributed through insurance brokers.” The organisation’s culture is that of underwriters deeply focused on risk across:
understanding
selecting
pricing
That clarity of purpose means every investment and technology decision is oriented around one goal: delivering for brokers and their clients.
One of Zurich’s most tangible competitive advantages is its progress in digitising the entire insurance value chain. The company is actively embracing digital capabilities, including AI, and is not simply paying lip service to innovation. In business insurance, around 80% of quotes via its SME full life cycle online platform, Z.stream, are processed instantly. This straight-through processing removes friction, saves brokers time and delivers the responsiveness that modern insurance distribution demands. In large commercial settings, the company is working to reduce industry-standard delays measured in days by investing in operational efficiency and systems.
Ask Zurich’s leadership about the business’s most important strategic investment in recent years and the answer is unequivocal: people. The insurer has built a strong national footprint, underpinned by empowered underwriters and state managers with deep knowledge of local markets and conditions.
This people-led strategy underpins initiatives such as Zurich AR Advance, the company’s Authorised Representative proposition, which is anchored around placing specialists in the market who genuinely understand how ARs operate. Leadership from country CEO Justin Delaney and head of general insurance Alex Morgan has driven this focus, supported by global oversight from group CEO Mario Greco and commercial insurance chief Sierra Signorelli.
Brokers consistently rate Zurich highly for its collaborative, solution-oriented approach. The insurer works “hand in glove” with brokers to jointly craft solutions, particularly for complex or emerging risks that are difficult to place. This extends to product development, where Zurich adapts to the evolving risk landscape – addressing emerging threats like cyber through partnerships such as with Cowbell while also responding to changing severity and frequency of traditional perils driven by weather and climate. The future focus is equally clear: continuing to listen to broker needs, enhancing underwriting capability through data and technology and delivering a best-in-class broker service proposition – all while remaining, at its core, a high-quality underwriting organisation.
With over 100 years of institutional knowledge behind it and a clear-eyed strategy for the digital future, Zurich Australia offers brokers something rare: the stability and financial strength of a global insurer, combined with the agility, innovation and genuine service culture of a business that puts the broker relationship first. That combination – global scale, local expertise and a relentless drive to improve – is why brokers continue to rate Zurich among the best in the market.
Kobe Yuan
Head of Delegated Programs
Jennifer Creaton
Executive Manager Risk
Leo Kearney
Head of Portfolio
Simon Williams
Chief Strategy & Distribution Officer, Arch Insurance International
and Active Underwriter, Syndicate 1955
Kobe Yuan is head of delegated programs at Zurich Australia, responsible for driving the insurer’s MGA and delegated authority strategy across commercial and personal lines business. He leads partner selection, portfolio performance and governance, helping scale innovative underwriting agencies.
Yuan has extensive experience across underwriting and pricing and claims and is actively involved in expanding the firm’s delegated offerings into new growth segments. Having spent much of his career at Zurich, he brings a deep understanding of the Australian insurance market and is focused on building long-term, high-quality partnerships that deliver value for brokers and customers.
Head of Delegated Programs
Kobe Yuan
Jennifer Creaton is executive manager, commercial and personal injury risk, leading a team that delivers risk insight and oversees frameworks, governance, and regulatory compliance. With 13 years at Suncorp across consumer, commercial, and statutory portfolios, she is recognised for a practical, commercial approach that translates complex risk and compliance obligations into clear, value-driven outcomes. Creaton brings extensive insurance risk and compliance experience and is passionate about strengthening risk capability, enhancing control environments, proactively managing emerging and strategic risks, and enabling the business to create exceptional customer value.
Executive Manager Risk
Jennifer Creaton
Leo Kearney is the head of portfolio for commercial and personal injury at Vero, responsible for portfolio management across commercial tailored lines and workers’ compensation, alongside oversight of data and analytics, strategy, the executive office, and performance. He joined Suncorp in 2023 from Boston Consulting Group, where he worked as a strategy consultant supporting Suncorp and other major Australian organisations on strategy and transformation initiatives. Earlier in his career, Kearney was a Chartered Chemical Engineer, delivering large-scale industrial construction and commissioning projects across Australia. He holds an MBA from London Business School and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales.
Head of Portfolio
Leo Kearney
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Damian Palovick
Senior Vice President of Underwriting
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Dr. Mary Lavoie
Head of Risk Management and Senior Vice President
AXA XL – Delegated Authority Programs, North America
Mark Bernacki
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ryan Armijo
Chief Operating Officer, Underwriting Division
Bob Petrilli
President, Underwriting Division
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X,
Spokesperson, Vero
Disclaimer:
This article is sponsored by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as Vero Insurance (‘Vero’). The information is intended to be of a general nature only. Subject to any rights you may have under any law, Vero and its related bodies corporate do not accept any legal responsibility for any loss or damage, including loss of business or profits or any other indirect loss, incurred as a result of reliance upon it – please make your own enquiries.
more than $1 million in funds
over $2.3 million in combined monetary and in-kind donations through an annual World Food Derby initiative
2,320 volunteer hours to numerous deserving organizations, making a significant community impact
Vero’s product strategy is insight-driven and forward-looking. Drawing on broker feedback, claims data and emerging market signals, the firm continuously evolves its product suite to meet real-world needs.
Innovations include enhanced directors and officers wording, enhanced coverage for battery electric vehicles in its motor fleet product, and a growing Vero Specialty Lines portfolio covering equipment breakdown, higher hazard property and liability, and combustible panelling exposures. A new design and engineering practitioners professional indemnity product also launched in May, which is a purpose-built solution for complex design and engineering risks aligned to evolving regulatory requirements and industry standards.
These releases reflect a rolling cadence of improvement with incremental enhancements alongside larger launches, supported by investment in technology to enable more efficiency, freeing up underwriters to add value for more complex risks, and faster turnaround times for new business.
Looking ahead, Vero’s ambitions are clear. The firm aims to expand its Vero Specialty Lines offering to 10 products by late FY28, deepen broker partnerships through enhanced training and insights, and further strengthen its claims and catastrophe response infrastructure.
For brokers and their clients, the promise is equally clear: a customer-centric partner that values long-term relationships, makes expertise accessible and consistently performs in the moments that matter.
Turnaround time – claims
Overall
Turnaround time – new business
Overall
