Hard work and dedication to a company do pay off. David Levinson would know – he’s been with Zurich for 23 years and counting. Before starting his climb up the ladder at the insurer, Levinson was the senior manager in audit practice at KPMG in New York. He eventually found his way to Zurich and served in a long list of roles, from corporate controller to chief financial officer of commercial markets for North American operations.
In the CFO role, he spent time in Canada as well as the US, and developed relationships with the team at Zurich’s Canadian division. “When they asked me to bring the two organizations together in Canada, it was perfect because I had a long relationship with the Canadian folks up here,” he says. “I knew a lot of the brokers, and I knew their offices, so I was the perfect person to actually bring the two together.”
On the way to becoming president and chief agent of Zurich Canada, Levinson also served as regional leader of commercial markets for the West, where he took on responsibilities for underwriting, sales and talent management for key business units. Yet no matter what side of the country he was on, the work he did has served him well in his current position.
“When you take on the role as the chief agent, it’s interesting because all of your experiences come back,” Levinson says.
“Your regulatory experience comes back, your broker management experience comes in, the finance comes back – so all the functions of a chief agent, I experienced all along in my career at Zurich.”
Some of Levinson’s most memorable times at the company, however, have come from trips abroad.
“When I was the controller, I had to present the six-month results to the Zurich board in Switzerland,” he says. “I got to meet the board of directors; I got to spend time with them, talk to them, figure out who they were. They were interested in what I was doing, and it was a very cool experience.”
Looming challenges
As Zurich closes in on its 100th anniversary in Canada, it’s safe to say that the insurance market looks completely different today than it did a hundred years ago – or even a decade ago.
“I think the world is changing exponentially,” Levinson says, highlighting driverless cars, cyberattacks and geopolitical issues as a few indicators of change. “There are so many things that didn’t exist five years ago, and I think the risk manager’s job is so much harder than it was before. They definitely need people to stay ahead of these exposures.”
The physical world we live in is changing, too, as environmental disasters continue to ravage countries across the globe. Canada is certainly not immune: A recent report from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification found that between 2008 and 2018, Canada experienced more than 100 catastrophes, which cost the Canadian insurance industry $17.4 billion in losses. Notably, out of the top five costliest events during that time, four have occurred in the last five years; number one on the list was the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016.
“We’re exposed to quakes, we’re exposed to floods, we’re exposed to wildfires,” Levinson says. “I think people are really looking at their exposures in a big way. It’s an eye-opener because when you start looking at where these catastrophes were – like when you look at the wildfires people had – we had wildfire zones with a high risk, but we had a bunch of fires that were not in those designated high-risk zones. It makes you think, how do you even really protect yourself?”
According to Levinson, these recent disasters have prompted insurers to take a fresh look at their exposures.
“If you have earthquake exposure, [alongside] all the climate changes that are going on, you’re going to start paying attention to your exposure to earthquakes; you’re going to start paying attention to floods in Alberta,” he says. “Start looking at how you’re going to mitigate the risk, how much risk you want to write, how much you want to lay off. There’s still a lot of capital in the insurance business, so how you’re going to mitigate that risk is important.”
Zurich Canada does a lot of work to prepare people for the disaster-ridden future that’s quickly turning into reality. The insurer has a client-facing site devoted to mitigating risk that touches on topics like investing in the right materials for structures so they don’t collapse during a hurricane, or having a response plan in place if building in a wildfire zone.
“As companies are investing and making repairs or even looking at where they want to build a plant, they should be thinking about these things,” Levinson says. “A natural catastrophe is going to happen, so how can you best prepare and protect yourself?”
Local growth
In addition to monitoring ever-changing environmental risks, Zurich has been making moves to expand its footprint. In 2017, the company acquired an insurance distributor, a telematics solution provider and a travel insurance provider, Cover-More, which Levinson hopes to grow in Canada.
Zurich also streamlined its number of distribution partners and is seeking to grow upper middle-market and large corporate risk-managed customers in a multitude of industry segments where it has the capabilities and expertise to help.
After being in his current position for well over a year, Levinson sees blue skies ahead. “I’m very optimistic about Canada,” he says. “Canada has great, great opportunity – we have a great brand, and people love our international capabilities as well. It’s a real draw. We’re out there, we’re pounding the pavement, and I’m pretty optimistic and excited.”
