International

2019 Women to Watch EMEA: Sierra Signorelli

Matthew Lerner

December 02, 2019 Reprints

Zurich P/C Insurers More + Less -

Sierra Signorelli
Chief underwriting officer, commercial insurance
Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd.
Zurich
Age: 43

Named for the mountains in her native California, Sierra Signorelli has fit right in in Switzerland, where she skis regularly with her family.

“The kids are a bit older now and are fantastic skiers,” she said.

Now the chief underwriting officer with Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd. in Zurich, she previously had postings in New York, Los Angeles and Singapore with American International Group Inc., where she spent 17 years, joining Zurich in July 2017 in her current position.

“Everywhere has something good about it,” Ms. Signorelli said. “I love the energy in New York. I love the lifestyle in California. Singapore is an amazing place to live.”

After a brief stint in environmental consulting, she made the move to environmental insurance.

“I liked the idea of having a book of business and having a dedicated territory,” she said.

She moved from being an underwriter to managing a team of underwriters and a book of business, to working in the home office for AIG in New York and managing a product line and then moving to a global role in Singapore, she said.

As AIG went through a “tremendous amount of change,” the group she was in was “basically dissolved” and she began to think, “What do I want to do next?”

A former colleague at Zurich reached out to her with the opportunity for the CUO role of commercial insurance at Zurich, which she said “was incredibly appealing, and the timing was right.”

Carolina Klint, CEO of the North-West region for Marsh Continental Europe, worked with Ms. Signorelli at AIG. “That’s where I first got to observe her strong leadership skills, her remarkable work ethic and passion for the insurance industry,” said Ms. Klint, who still works with Ms. Signorelli.

“Working with her in her current role representing one of Marsh’s key markets, I continue to be impressed, but now with her extensive underwriting expertise and deep knowledge of the insurance market dynamics,” Ms. Klint said.

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