Zurich North America shuffles middle-market leadership

John Diaz (from left), Lynn Zeitler and John Mizzi

Zurich North America this week reassigned responsibilities among three of its senior middle-market executives.

John Diaz, who was previously chief operating officer, was named head of underwriting; Lynn Zeitler, who was previously head of underwriting, was named head of industry practices; and John Mizzi, who was head of industry practices, was named chief operating officer.

Zurich broke out the middle-market division from its commercial business four years ago after hiring Alex Wells from Chubb Ltd. to head the business.

The executives had been in their current positions for at least three years, Mr. Wells said in an interview.

“They're all underwriters; all had been underwriters for their whole career, and we’re just asking them to take a look at the business from a different perspective on a move-forward basis. A new set of eyes, new energy around those teams,” he said.

Since its launch, the middle-market division has added 50% more underwriters and has reported a 20% compound annual growth rate, Mr. Wells said.

In 2016, Ms. Zeitler was named one of the Business Insurance Women to Watch.