Big growth, bright future: Zurich U.S. Middle Market’s rise

The timing was tricky: In 2020, just as the pandemic put much of the world on pause, commercial insurance provider Zurich made a bold move to create a distinct U.S. Middle Market (USMM) business. Five years later, USMM has posted double-digit growth in four consecutive years and become one of the largest businesses at Zurich North America.¹

“Zurich saw an underserved segment and a match between our strengths and the needs of midsize companies, which are a cornerstone of the economy,” said Alex Wells, Head of U.S. Middle Market at Zurich North America. “So, despite global uncertainty, Zurich invested in building a world-class middle market underwriting organization. I couldn’t be more proud of how far we’ve come, not just in terms of our growth, but in how we listen and deliver for our brokers and customers, develop our talent and think about the future.”

In the first few months of 2025, USMM hired twice as many underwriters as in the same period last year, expanded its geographic footprint and added specialists in its industry practices. This follows Zurich’s announcement, in November 2024, that it is renewing its global focus on and investment in the middle market segment for its next three-year strategic cycle.

So, how did a new business unit become a leader in just five years, and what’s next? Wells and underwriters on his team point to three vital forces in USMM’s growth so far and into the future.

1. Tailoring solutions by industry and need

From the start, the USMM strategy has been built on industry expertise. The business is structured into specialized practice areas such as Private Equity, Tech, Life Sciences, Financial Institutions, Professional Services and advanced Manufacturing.

The extent of industry specialization impressed Bobby Isaacs (left) when he was interviewing with Zurich. Now a Senior Middle Market Technology Underwriter at Zurich, he has worked at three other insurance providers. “The fact Zurich has dedicated industry practice leaders in so many areas is not typical,” he said. “It’s beneficial for an underwriter to be able to go to one of our industry practice leaders here for industry-specific advice on an account, to enhance the solution we bring to the table.”

Middle market brokers are increasingly structured similarly by industry, Wells said. “We’re aligned with how they work,” Wells said, “and we’re delivering solutions that are tailored, not one-size-fits-all.”

Tailored solutions have helped win complex accounts, including a financial institution that wanted a single carrier with the capabilities to simplify its risk management. Zurich’s ability to offer a Master Trust Program, something few carriers can, helped seal the deal.

Another distinctive offering, a Workers’ Compensation dividend program, was part of the draw for a management consulting company. Working with its broker, it moved its coverage to Zurich after years with its previous insurer, who did not offer this kind of dividend plan.

“It’s about listening to our brokers and customers,” Wells said. “Our underwriters know how to find the balance between the science of the portfolio and the art of individual account decisions and relationships.”

Zurich’s market-leading Programs and Group Captives businesses are part of the U.S. Middle Market business unit, contributing to its strength of specialization.

2. Getting closer to our brokers and customers

Zurich USMM has more than doubled its underwriting footprint since 2020 with strategic investments in high-growth cities, particularly those fostering industries requiring specialized insurance solutions and knowledge. These Zurich USMM offices, which include San Diego, San Antonio and others, have shown growth at nearly five times the rate of its more mature markets.

Senior Middle Market Commercial Underwriter Melissa King (left) joined Zurich last year in Southern California. A key reason? The opportunity to win in the market through Zurich’s breadth and depth of products and services.

King said brokers and customers appreciate Zurich’s one-stop-shop capabilities, including Zurich Multinational solutions. Many of her midsize manufacturing customers have exposures over multiple lines of business and have overseas dealings as well. “They don’t have to place, say, cargo with one carrier and international with another because the other carrier doesn’t have their own global network of local, admitted offices and service networks,” King said. “We can build one program within Zurich and shine.”

Being present in the local Southern California market is a plus.

“Brokers aren’t just placing an exposure and forgetting it,” she said. “They need to trust that we understand what the local market is experiencing in terms of claims and risks. Each region has its own cat [catastrophe] exposure, its own legal climate, and they need to see we understand that.”

Wells points out that many midsize businesses don’t have the in-house risk management departments that large corporations might and look to their insurance provider and broker for strategic risk consultation. That makes local knowledge and strong risk engineering resources all the more compelling.    

“Middle market customers and brokers value underwriters who live and work in the same geography,” Wells said. “Those local insights are often the small but critical difference between a well-structured program and one that is destined to fail. And we never underestimate the relationships that are built locally.”

3. Empowering the team: Development and flexibility

Growth isn’t just about business metrics; it’s about people and their careers.

Zurich USMM has learned a lot about how to hire and effectively onboard staff. Applying these learnings, the leadership team launched a structured onboarding program in early 2025 with dedicated staff to help accelerate empowerment of new talent. The program helps new hires learn Zurich’s underwriting systems and philosophy while connecting them with peers in a cohort format. It’s designed in part to help them earn levels of underwriting authority faster and feel the thrill of success sooner.

The early progress is promising: In the first cohort of underwriters, 29 underwriters are tracking toward an authority grant in about half the time it previously took.

“The feedback on our onboarding program has been fantastic,” Wells (left) said. “As word has gotten out, some of our longtime Zurich underwriters have even asked to attend sessions as refresher courses.”

Leadership councils for underwriters and underwriting associates also give them a voice in shaping systems and processes. Presenting at teamwide meetings gives them visibility and experience while expanding their internal network.

“Organizations that are dynamic and expanding have so many opportunities for growth and development,” Wells said. “We are intentional about creating these opportunities and encouraging people to engage. Every team member is helping to write the script for our business, not just watching a movie someone else wrote and directed.”

The Middle Market team has also become an exporter of talent within Zurich. Two USMM alumni, John Diaz and Ann Chai, have been promoted into executive roles in other areas that have placed them on the Executive Committee of Zurich North America alongside Wells.

“I miss every person who leaves the team,” Wells said, “but seeing my colleagues succeed and be promoted means we are doing great things, and wherever they go they will bring the core of our culture to do other great things in their unique way.”

While many companies have pulled back on work flexibility, Zurich has maintained its flexwork philosophy and small pleasures like summer Fridays.

“We believe in flexibility with accountability, and we also believe in connection,” Wells said.

That balance has helped Zurich attract and retain top talent in a fiercely competitive labor market.

Christine Garza-Arcos (left), an Assistant Vice President for Middle Market Underwriting, joined Zurich in San Antonio in December 2024. She previously worked for an insurtech startup in an executive role and before that for other carriers. Before she joined Zurich, her most recent role entailed frequent travel.

“This opportunity gave me more time with my young children and let me return to what really drives me,” she said. “That is working at the deal level, being market-facing with brokers, finding solutions collaboratively and competing for business.

“After I joined Zurich and started meeting with brokers here, they said ‘we’ve never had a San Antonio underwriter before; it was always handled out of Houston.’ I liked telling them, ‘I am working with San Antonio brokers exclusively. You are my priority.’ ”    

Looking ahead

Zurich’s Middle Market business enters its next chapter as an established leader, but the focus remains on purposeful growth.

“Investment in advanced technology, like our Sixfold AI tool that is helping our underwriters save time on data compilation, will continue to be core to our strategy,” Wells said. “Our tech focus is helping us to be smarter, faster and easier to do business with, and we make sure the people who use the tools are involved in shaping them.”

<<Read more about how Sixfold is elevating our underwriters here.>>  

A mindset of “excellence as the expectation” is helping to drive success in every part of the business, Wells added.

“Hiring, developing and rewarding excellence, not just based on quantitative measures but also qualitative, is central to who we are as a team. We have peer-nominated awards that recognize team members who exemplify our cultural values,” Wells said. “And I always say this and I mean it: Awards and recognition are my favorite part of my quarterly infoshare meetings with our team. We celebrate our people because they’re doing a lot of amazing things.”

USMM will keep fostering innovation, he said. USMM has an Idea Center team and a formal structure for vetting ideas, updating submitters of the status and giving awards for submissions.

<<Learn more about our work culture here.>>

All of this attention to detail fuels the USMM growth trajectory, Wells said.

“We have some big plans and some big expectations around those plans,” Wells said. “We enter our next strategic phase with an amazing team and a track record of achieving results. We will keep growing, listening to our brokers and customers, and investing in our people. It’s how we’ve come this far and it’s how we’ll go even further.”

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1. Based on gross written premium in Q1 of 2025.