Zurich has named three new appointments to its general insurance leadership team as part of its efforts to strengthen its underwriting and claims capability in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Alex Morgan starts in May as Head of Retail in Underwriting, returning from Singapore where he is presently Head of Specialty for Commercial Insurance for the Asia Pacific region.

“One of our key strategic priorities is to build on our strong SME position,” CEO General Insurance Tim Plant told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The new Head of Retail will drive this strategy, which will include evolving our SME offering through product development, approach to pricing and aligned technology platforms so that we can respond to the strategic choices of our key intermediary partners.”

James Dimitriou will join later this month as Melbourne-based Head of Claims General Insurance from IAG, where he is currently Executive Manager for Commercial and Specialty Short Tail Claims. At Zurich his role involves supporting frontline claims teams to deliver on strategy, business plans and results.

Catherine L’Estrange, who has more than 20 years’ general insurance experience, started in November as Head of Casualty and Specialty Claims. She is responsible for accident and health, financial lines, liability, marine, travel and workers’ compensation claims.