Zurich names leader of new sustainability underwriting office

Zurich North America said Wednesday it has formed an office of sustainability underwriting and hired industry veteran Mark Way as its head, effective Dec. 15.

Mr. Way will report to chief underwriting officer Brandon Fick and will serve as a member of Zurich’s technical underwriting leadership team.

He is joined by technical underwriting climate director David Edsey and emerging solutions director Jonathan Charak, Zurich said in a statement.

Mr. Way most recently served as acting global climate adaptation director and global climate risk and resilience director at The Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Virginia. Prior to that, he worked at Swiss Re Ltd.

The office of sustainability underwriting will approach climate change as a risk and an opportunity in terms of establishing underwriting strategy and guidelines, Mr. Fick said in the statement.

The team will also lead a cross-functional committee bringing together various disciplines to address Zurich’s sustainability commitment, he said.