Zurich Canada names new head of operations

Mathias Sommer has been named head of operations for Zurich Canada.

Sommer has been leading the operations team as vice president of operations for Zurich’s Canadian commercial insurance segment since September 2017. He will remain based in Toronto and report to Zurich Canada CEO Saad Mered, with a reporting relationship to Zurich North America chief operations officer Mark Knipfer.

In his expanded role, he will lead the teams responsible for:

• underwriting support and services
• information technology, including data management
• operations and project management, including application development/design, onboarding new projects, business architecture and business transformation
• facilities management
• procurement.

“Mathias’ experience in business transformation, technology enablement, organizational development and project leadership will greatly enhance the development and execution of the operating model we are creating for Zurich Canada,” Mered said.

Sommer previously served as head of business services and solutions for North America. Prior to moving to North America, he was a senior manager in Zurich’s internal consulting team supporting strategy and transformation efforts across multiple geographies including U.K., Switzerland, and Russia.

He holds a Master’s degree and a Doctorate in Economics, having studied at the University of Mannheim in Germany, as well as University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.