Daniel Fogarty says his appointment as the next CEO of Zurich General Insurance Australia is a “strong declaration of faith” in the company’s existing strategy.

Mr Fogarty, who was named on Friday to become CEO when Shane Doyle leaves the company at the end of next month, says the “strong strategic focus” promoted by Mr Doyle will continue under his command.

“My appointment shows Zurich’s global leadership has confidence in our strategy,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “The message couldn’t be more clear: get on with it.

“We will retain our strong strategic focus on the broker market and continue to develop our leadership in areas like packages, marine and motor fleet.

“We also want to grow our international programs business for multinational companies, as well as our high-performing financial lines and accident and health operations.”

Mr Fogarty says his close working relationship with Mr Doyle over the past year as Zurich refined its Australian market strategy will be advantageous for the local operation.

“Shane was the person who ‘sold’ the strategy to our stakeholders, while I was the person who made sure it got done,” he said. “The momentum is constantly building, and there’s no way we want to impede that.”

Mr Fogarty’s promotion from EGM Corporate at Zurich caps a rapid rise through the industry ranks. He joined Zurich in 2009 from Suncorp, where he was EGM Suncorp Insurance and also managed the group’s call centres and motor claims areas. He had previously worked for Westpac in a variety of management roles including insurance, marketing and banking.

He managed Zurich’s SME and Packages division before being promoted to COO in April 2010. He took up his present role last year.

Mr Fogarty has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of NSW and a Master of Science from the Stanford Business School in California.