Zurich North America announced key leadership changes in connection with the impending retirement of Paul Lavelle, previously head of U.S. National Accounts.

Heather Fox moves into that role, leading the unit that serves large national and multinational companies. Fox was most recently chief underwriting officer for Zurich North America.

Peter Caminiti, who was most recently head of underwriting for U.S. National Accounts, has been promoted to replace Fox as chief underwriting officer for Zurich North America.

Caminiti has been with Zurich since 2014, building strong relationships with Zurich’s core customers and brokers.

Fox joined Zurich North America as chief underwriting officer in 2023 and has been instrumental in strengthening underwriting capabilities and leading simplification efforts to enhance the underwriter experience, the company said in a media statement. She has over 25 years of industry experience, previously serving general counsel and chief broking officer at ARC Excess & Surplus. Prior to that, she held multiple roles at AIG, including general counsel and chief underwriting officer of the executive liability lines of insurance.

Zurich North America Chief Executive Officer Kristof Terryn praised Fox for her deep market understanding and prior experience, stating that both “will position her perfectly to take on this next role and achieve the Group’s goals.”

Terryn described Caminiti as “one of the best underwriters in the industry, with over 20 years of industry experience in underwriting and product management.”

The CEO also made note of Lavelle’s contributions in shaping our commercial business and claims operations. “His legacy includes not only driving growth but also fostering crucial industry collaborations that benefit our customers,” Terryn said in a media statement.

Both Fox and Caminiti took their new roles on May. 15, and will become members of the Zurich North America Executive Committee and the Group Leadership Team. Fox will also become part of the Global Commercial Insurance Leadership team.

Lavelle will stay on through June 1 to facilitate a smooth transition. During his seven years at Zurich, he significantly drove the North America commercial business, serving as chief claims officer for three of those years.

Zurich benefited from his over 30 years of insurance experience from Allstate and American International Group before to Zurich.

Under his claims leadership, Lavelle established the Claims Judicial and Legislative Affairs group to help customers address legal system abuse. He also led the development of a unique industry offering that provides critical excess casualty capacity to large national and multinational companies.

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