Zurich says it is strengthening its presence in Australia as it builds on brand recognition in the market and benefits from recent acquisitions.

Asia-Pacific CEO Jack Howell says travel insurance provider Cover-More, which the group acquired this year, brings a proactive approach to assisting customers and tailoring products.

“That is what makes Cover-More such a valuable proposition to us,” he told an investor day in London last week. “We bring that way of thinking to our other businesses.”

The purchase of Macquarie Life has provided improved distribution and scale, and allowed the company to develop a “stronger proposition”, he says.

“We took the best products Macquarie had to offer and the best products Zurich had to offer, and came up with a new product suite,” he said.

Zurich says it has strong brand recognition in Japan and aims to build its business in emerging markets.

“We can leverage that brand recognition when we move into other markets,” Mr Howell said.