Zurich Financial Services Australia has appointed Geoff Summerhayes as Chair, along with Noel Condon and Mary Waldron as independent non-executive Directors.
Summerhayes has extensive experience across the insurance, financial services and regulatory landscape. Some of the roles he has previously held across the industry include being an Executive Board Member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), CEO of Suncorp Life, Regional General Manager at National Australia Bank (NAB) and CEO of MLC Superannuation and Investments.
Additionally, Summerhayes will also Chair Zurich’s other related corporate entities. He has previously served as an independent non-executive Director on each of these boards since January 2022.
“I am delighted and honoured to take on this new role. Zurich occupies a unique position as a composite – life and general – insurer and my focus as Chair will be to continue to work with our executive team, led by Chief Executive Justin Delaney, as we evolve Zurich’s proposition and operations for the benefit of our customers and employees,” said Summerhayes.
“I am particularly proud of Zurich’s commitment, both globally and locally, to achieving critical sustainability outcomes and I look forward to supporting the delivery of this agenda.”
Meanwhile, Zurich has also appointed both Noel Condon and Mary Waldron as independent non-executive Directors of Zurich in addition to the firms other related corporate entities.
The firm also noted that Nicolette Rubinsztein has also been appointed as an independent non-executive Director of Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (ZAIL), in addition to her existing directorships of other Zurich corporate entities.
Zurich confirmed that appointees will join existing independent non-executive Director, John Mulcahy. The announcement follows the resignations of former Chair, Paul Bedbrook, and non-executive Director, Elaine Collins.
Condon has more than 40 years of experience from working across re/insurance markets in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Previously he has served in senior management roles with American International Group (AIG), including as Australia Chief Executive for nine years and served as a board member of AIG Australia, AIG New Zealand and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
Further, Waldron has more than 30 years of industry experience, specifically within audit, risk and consulting as a former Partner at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.
In addition to this, she also previously worked for 14 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she was a member of their Global Leadership team and served as Global Chief Risk Officer from 2016 to 2021.
