Nick Major gives us the lowdown on its IPZ programme at this year’s Ferma Forum

Nick Major

Q: What brings you to Ferma this year?

A: Zurich has always been a key sponsor of Ferma and this year it is a platinum sponsor. We have an extensive business interest in Europe, and the forum is a great place to meet our clients because it is the premier risk management event for continental Europe. We’ll be talking to them about a range of things including our international programmes (IPZ). This is a global programme providing worldwide coverage across multiple lines of business for the larger corporate customers.

Q: What benefit can IPZ bring to businesses and risk managers?

A: If you think about the traditional approach of having individual local policies in countries – there’s a huge amount of administration associated with managing those types of programme. If, however, you build a programme, working with a broker that has a network and an insurer that has a network that aligns with your business exposures, you will effectively bring all of the coverage under one master policy. This way you get consistency of cover because you’re getting good local standard policies that are issued in the local language, which meets local jurisdictional requirements.

Q: What makes your international programme unique and sets you apart from your competitors?

A: It really comes down to investment – if you want to do something well, then you have to invest a lot of money. We have spent a huge amount of money, particularly in our multinational insurance application (MIA), which really underpins our IPZ strategy.