Two of Australia’s insurance sector firms have made changes to their leadership structures, with Gilchrist Connell naming a new principal for its regulatory practice and Zurich Financial Services Australia reconfiguring its general insurance team across several roles.
Brisbane will be the base for Leah Watt (pictured), who has joined Gilchrist Connell as a principal within its national Corporate & Regulatory practice. The firm, which focuses on the insurance sector, said the move adds depth to its capacity to advise clients working through regulatory and governance obligations. Watt’s background covers close to 20 years of work in financial services regulation, funds management, and governance, with experience drawn from both Australia and the UK. Her advisory work has touched on areas including product governance and disclosure, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks, privacy and data obligations, breach and incident management, and enterprise-level governance and risk.
Among the regulators she has engaged with are the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), and Treasury. She has also worked with international regulatory bodies and is familiar with prudential standards CPS 230 and CPS 234 – frameworks that set out requirements around operational resilience and information security for regulated entities in Australia, and which have become more central to how insurers manage their governance and risk obligations.
Watt’s work covers the full regulatory lifecycle, from product development and distribution obligations through to breach reporting, remediation programs, and compliance governance. On the corporate side, she has handled contract development and review, licensing, and regulatory structuring work. Her background in privacy, data management, and incident response is relevant for insurers dealing with cyber risk, claims-related data handling, regulatory notifications, and remediation workflows. The firm noted this also positions her to assist with matters involving regtech and insurtech clients. Watt has also worked with US-based companies entering regulated markets outside the US and has guided clients through complex engagements with Australian regulators.
Gilchrist Connell chief executive officer Belinda Cohen pointed to the practical application of Watt’s background across the firm’s client base. “Leah’s depth of regulatory, governance, and operational resilience expertise, combined with strong front-end corporate capability, enables us to provide more integrated, practical advice to clients operating in increasingly complex risk environments,” Cohen said. Gilchrist Connell operates out of five offices across Australia and advises insurer clients on coverage matters, claims defence across general insurance classes, and front-end corporate and regulatory issues.
Zurich Financial Services Australia has made three changes to its general insurance leadership structure in Australia, creating two new roles and shifting one existing position. Giles Crowley moves into a newly created regional position – head of customer & distribution management for Asia-Pacific – where he will work alongside in-country teams, including in Australia, on underwriting capability and market strategy. Crowley has been part of the Zurich Group for more than three decades, with over 10 years spent across Australia and New Zealand. His most recent local role was head of commercial market for the general insurance business.
Taking on another newly created position is Sarah Powell, appointed as head of international broker & customer engagement. The role carries responsibility for broker and customer initiatives across innovation, partnership, and operations. Powell has been with Zurich for more than 10 years, working across several broker-facing roles. Her most recent position was state manager for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Before joining Zurich, she worked at Marsh and Brit Insurance. Sebastian Francis-Gash, currently state manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory, will step into the state manager role for New South Wales within the Commercial Markets division. He previously spent close to 10 years in senior claims positions at Suncorp before joining Zurich.
Alex Morgan, who leads general insurance at Zurich Australia, outlined the rationale behind the restructure. “As Zurich continues to invest in scaling and innovating its operations in Australia and the APAC region, customer centricity will be increasingly important. These appointments represent a key opportunity to evolve the deep relationships we have in market and keep decisions close to our customers,” Morgan said. He also spoke to the specific contributions Powell and Francis-Gash bring to their roles. “Sarah and Sebastian bring exceptional market presence, trusted broker relationships, and a track-record for building high-performance teams to their new roles, and I look forward to welcoming them to the team,” he said.
On Crowley’s move to the regional role, Morgan added: “I also want to congratulate and thank Giles for his exceptional leadership of our general insurance distribution team for close to eight years. Giles’ appointment represents an excellent professional opportunity and an important strategic step as we continue to expand across the region.” Crowley, addressing the scope of the Asia-Pacific position, said the focus will be on aligning go-to-market approaches and building stronger connections between teams across markets. “Zurich’s general insurance businesses in Australia and APAC are underpinned by a high-quality customer and broker network. As we execute on our regional strategic priorities, we will be focusing on evolving our go to market proposition and trading capability, bringing our teams closer together, and developing strong relationships across our markets,” Crowley said.
