Jones named Zurich regional chief

Zurich Financial Services Australia chief executive Malcolm Jones has been given the nod by Zurich worldwide to take on the top regional job for the group.

Zurich Financial Services Australia chief executive Malcolm Jones has been given the nod by Zurich worldwide to take on the top regional job for the group.

Jones has been named as head of the Asia Pacific region under a restructure of the worldwide Zurich group. Under the restructure, the group has been divided into eight global regions. Jones will take charge of the strategic, operating and financial performance for 14 countries. Including Australia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

To assist Jones with the Australian operations, Zurich’s head of general insurance and production, John Butler, will also take on the new position of executive director while keeping his present responsibilities.

Before joining Zurich in July 1998, Jones spent about two years as NRMA chief executive officer. Prior to this he worked with the State Goverment Insurance Commission (SGIC) of South Australia, the last four years as chief executive.

Butler has also been with Zurich for nearly two years, and was previously senior vice president of Insurance and Financial Services with BT Alex Brown Australia, a division of Bankers Trust.

According to Zurich Financial Services Chairman and chief executive Ross Hueppi, the restructure means the eight regional groups will be responsible for their own profit and loss, market management, distribution, manufacturing, shared services and shared infrastructure.