Q&A with Frank Streidl, Head of Commercial Insurance UK
03/13/2023
Can you tell us about your career with Zurich to date and how this experience supports your new appointment to Head of Commercial Insurance UK?
I started working for Zurich in 2010 as an Energy Underwriter. Since then, I have progressed through the ranks holding post in many roles from Senior Underwriter, Team Leader, Portfolio Manager, Line of Business Head to now - Head of Commercial Insurance UK.
Outside of professional qualification, education, and network, I have 12 years’ worth of experience in Zurich; I am the known quantity. Not only in terms of process and systems but also the people and the culture. Most people within the Commercial team have worked with me in some shape or form, and if they haven’t, they’ll know someone that has. I'm not being parachuted in externally, where it can take a year to get your head around the shop and for people to be comfortable with you, I’m hitting the ground running and picking up the rest along the way.
During your tenure at Zurich, what would you say is the top lesson you’ve learnt?
To answer the question simply, listen to people. When you take the time to pause and listen, you learn so much because everyone is an expert in something.
Until recently I have been known as the Energy Specialist; I enjoyed helping people or having the answer to the questions. Now in my new position, I’m required to think across a broader spectrum. My focus has shifted from specialist to a generalist approach, which has been supported by listening to and collaborating with the wider team and asking a lot of questions! By stopping, pausing, and consulting with the experts in their field, we are finding new angles and ways of working.
What key focus areas do you have over the next 12 months? Will sustainability be a key driver over the next year?
One of the priorities for next 12 months will be ensuring we are an agile business equipped to react immediately when opportunities or threats arise. That could be a recession, a war, the end of the war, sudden energy price changes or broken supply chains. Whether it be cost of living inflation or general inflation, everything gets more expensive and so do claims. Addressing technical topics like claims inflation will be a key focus to ensure that our customers level of cover has been adjusted to account for any changes to our economic standing.
As for sustainability, it remains an - if not the most - important topic. It’s been a key focus for many years and will continue to be in the years to come. The Net Zero Insurance Alliance gives us ratings and guidelines of how to drive this and where to and when that should be achieved by. There are many different pathways to that, and we’ll be heavily engaged.
How do you plan to build on the successes of 2022, in 2023?
The Commercial Insurance book is in very good shape. Last year we won the Commercial Lines Insurer of the Year award at the Insurance Times Awards, which is testament to that.
We’ve got a good business model and we’ve got the right people in the right roles. I’m not looking to change a winning formula, but we want to maintain the momentum, be a versatile leader and invest time in continuously improving our broker and customer experiences - for example digitalising our business.
I’ve recently put up a picture of the London Skyline in my office - that’s the biggest change I will make this quarter!
Can you tell us a bit more about the digitalisation of the business?
This is workbench. Our digitalisation project started last year and will be a core focus for us internally throughout 2023. The initial stage is all chartered out and now it’s time to put in the heavy lifting; our goal is to launch in the first half of 2024. Personally, I’m very excited by these new user-friendly system developments and believe this will be a real game-changer in responsiveness, not just for brokers and customers, but for the team internally.
What trends are you seeing in the market? Are there any emerging risks you see impacting commercial businesses?
From a business perspective, for me cyber is one to watch. There are so many different permutations of Cyber from ransomware to more malicious cyber-attacks that can affect individuals, organisations or whole countries. It’s an interesting and ever-changing market; if you take your eyes off the ball for a week or two the market is a different place.
Trends can be positive and negative, and we currently live in times of huge uncertainty, so it's incredibly difficult to anticipate the future. There are a variety of topics that are coming our way from Brexit (yes, still Brexit) to energy transition. Some are opportunities, some threats might turn into opportunities, or some opportunities might turn into threats, but we are well prepared.
What do you enjoy most working at Zurich?
The people and culture. The mentality at Zurich is a helpful one – we’re mutually supportive. This came out loud and clear during lockdown, and if anything, we all got a lot closer to our colleagues as a result. Personally, I have always felt valued and encouraged by my colleagues, which has kept me engaged and motivated through the last decade.
Lastly, what would you do if you weren’t working in the insurance industry?
I’m lucky enough to have made my job, my hobby, which gives me tremendous satisfaction. However, if I didn’t work in insurance, I’ve always wanted to run a vineyard - somewhere in the in the Mediterranean. I have a real passion for the outdoors and nice weather environments.
