Zurich Insurance Group has recruited its former national underwriter Nicole Yates as Head of Accident and Health (A&H) Commercial in Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Yates took up the newly-created role on April 6 and is based in Melbourne, a spokesman for Zurich told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The spokesman says the role reinforces the insurer’s global commitment to strengthen its underwriting expertise and commercial focus on A&H.

Ms Yates was Head of Accident and Health Australia at Axa XL, a role she held for four years until her return to Zurich. Prior to that, she was Zurich’s National Underwriter from 2012 to 2016.

Her appointment is one of three made by Zurich to strengthen its Commercial Insurance A&H underwriting group.

Chris Howard is Head of A&H in the US, joining from WNC Insurance Services, while Stephane Baj, previously Chubb’s VP Head of Partnerships and Alternative Distribution in Continental Europe, is Head of A&H UK and Multinational.

“Accident and Health continues to be an attractive market with strong growth potential,” Chief Underwriting Officer Commercial Insurance Sierra Signorelli said.

“Our large commercial customer base and strong global network combined with our underwriting expertise and unified product offering uniquely position Zurich to become a leading global provider in the A&H business.”