Zurich N.A. Appoints Seven Executives to New Regional Positions

Zurich North America has announced the appointments of H. Lindy Hardman III, Jerry J. Blais, Joseph S. Murphy, M. Bradley Brown, Kathleen Dwyer, Matt Munson, Donald D. Doyle, Jr. to newly created regional executive positions.

In their new roles, each will be responsible for driving and leading the development of strategic marketing initiatives, distribution, and general operations in their respective region as part of Zurich’s new regional structure.

“The appointment of the seven regional executives is an important milestone to further enhance our focus on profitable growth. With the new regional structure we are aiming to create deeper and broader relationships with customers, agents and brokers,” said Axel P. Lehmann, CEO of Zurich North America Commercial.

“The restructuring of Zurich’s marketing efforts puts our focus squarely on the distributor and customer. It allows us to streamline responses to distributors and provides a more comprehensive delivery of our full range of products and services,” said Bill Casey, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Regional Management for Zurich North America Commercial.

Lindy Hardman will head Zurich’s Southwest region, headquartered in Glendale, Calif., which consists of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. He joined Zurich in 2001 as a regional vice president with the Specialties business unit. Prior to joining Zurich, Hardman served as an executive vice president with Crump Insurance Services.

Jerry Blais will head Zurich’s South Central region, headquartered in Dallas, which consists of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. He previously worked at Zurich as a regional marketing executive from 2000 to 2002. Prior to accepting this new position with Zurich, Blais served as business development manager for Blais Excess & Surplus Agency of Texas, Ltd.

Joe Murphy will head the Mid-Atlantic region, headquartered in Philadelphia, which consists of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. Most recently, he served as Zurich’s senior vice president of operations for Marketing and Regional Management and has been with the company since 1999. Prior to coming to Zurich, he was chief operating officer for the Affiliated Insurance Group.

M. Bradley Brown will head Zurich’s Southeast region, headquartered in Atlanta, which consists of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. He joined Zurich in 1996, most recently serving as regional vice president and Southeast regional marketing executive. Prior to joining Zurich, Brown served as a general manager for the United States Fidelity and Guarantee Insurance Company.

Kathleen Dwyer will head Zurich’s Northeast region, based in New York City, which consists of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. She most recently served as vice president in Zurich’s Specialties environmental and design professional unit. Prior to joining Zurich in 1992, Dwyer served as a pollution manager for the American International Group, Inc.

Matt Munson will head Zurich’s North Central region, headquartered in Chicago, which consists of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. He joined Zurich in 1999, most recently serving as regional vice president for the North Central region. Prior to joining Zurich, Munson had management and marketing responsibilities with Liberty Mutual, McClarens Toplis and Safety National.

Donald Doyle will head Zurich’s Northwest region, headquartered in San Francisco, which consists of Montana, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii and northern California. Prior to accepting the position with Zurich, he served as managing director of Pacific Specialty Insurance Company.