Zurich Middle Market unit promotes Lisa Ammel, Soraya Pickett to RVP

Zurich North America’s growing U.S. Middle Market business unit has promoted Lisa Ammel and Soraya Pickett, both of whom previously served as Regional Underwriting Officers, to Regional Vice President roles: Ammel for the Midwest Region and Pickett for the East Region. Both will report to John Mizzi, Chief Operating Officer for Middle Market.

“Soraya and Lisa are veteran insurance professionals with deep underwriting knowledge and keen insight into their regions,” Mizzi said. “They will be responsible for driving underwriting strategy, strengthening distributor and customer relationships, and developing underwriting talent now and into the future for our growing book of business.”

• Ammel joined Zurich in 2015 and most recently was Regional Underwriting Officer for the Midwest. Her previous roles included Middle Market Underwriting Manager for the Midwest, overseeing the Wisconsin and Minnesota territories. Earlier, she was Middle Market Lead Underwriter and Senior Market-Facing Underwriter. Prior to Zurich, Ammel held senior underwriting roles at The Hanover and underwriting and sales leadership positions at Unitrin. Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Iowa.
• Pickett joined Zurich in 2021 as the Regional Underwriting Officer for the East. Prior to Zurich, Soraya had a distinguished 30-year underwriting career at Chubb, where she most recently served as a Commercial Insurance Underwriting Manager, overseeing underwriting and business strategies in the Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia territories. Pickett earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from North Carolina Central University.

Last year was a record-breaking year of growth for Middle Market businesses, which are an essential engine for a strong U.S. economy. Zurich is committed to providing market-leading products and services to these businesses by region and by industry practice. Ammel and Pickett and their teams draw on Zurich’s broad, global capabilities and holistic offerings as they tailor solutions and work to simplify risk management for Zurich customers and brokers.

“These promotions demonstrate our depth of talent in U.S. Middle Market business and our commitment to growing together with our people,” said Alex Wells, Head of Middle Market for Zurich North America. “Both Soraya and Lisa have the experience, insight and leadership skills to ensure we continue to deliver exceptional service and innovative solutions to our customers and distributors while achieving our financial targets.”

In addition to serving in their new roles, Ammel and Pickett will temporarily continue as the Regional Underwriting Officers for their respective regions until their successors are named.