Former IAG New Zealand CEO David Smith has been appointed COO of Zurich Australia. Mr Smith left IAG in February to return to Australia, citing family reasons.

News of his appointment at Zurich comes as the other IAG executive directly affected in February’s top-level management reshuffle, Rick Jackson, quit the company suddenly on Friday [see following article].

Industry observers expressed surprise in February that IAG had not done more to find 45-year-old Mr Smith another position in the group’s top management. A former senior executive in retail banking at Westpac in Sydney – as was IAG CEO Michael Hawker – he had carved out an enviable reputation for his role in the demutualisation of the NRMA in 1999. He transferred to Auckland to run IAG NZ in 2001 after organising the merger of the State Insurance business into IAG.

At the time he resigned he was also President of the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) and had taken a leading role in presenting the industry’s views on impending regulatory moves.

Mr Smith told Sunrise Exchange News in February that he sees himself as “a builder, not a maintainer”. He said his decision to quit was based on his daughters’ education needs. His family moved back to Sydney in January.

He joined Zurich in Sydney earlier this month and will now be based in the global group’s Swiss head office for much of the rest of the year before taking up the new job.

With Zurich bullish about its performance and future in the local market, Mr Smith is being tipped as a possible successor to CEO Tom Brown.