Zurich NA names James Bracken CFO as Peter Hirs moves to Group role

Zurich North America welcomes veteran senior insurance executive James Bracken as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Peter Hirs, who returns to Zurich Insurance Group in Switzerland as Group Head of Mergers & Acquisitions. Both Bracken and Hirs assume their new roles July 1.

Bracken, who has more than 25 years of financial services experience, was previously Chief Executive Officer at Fortitude Re and, before that, CFO at AIG General Insurance. During four years as Fortitude Re’s CEO, Bracken built a Bermuda-based runoff reinsurance company with $75 billion in total assets. He led M&A transactions and a full carve-out from AIG, which culminated in the sale of Fortitude Re to an investor consortium. Before that, he served as CFO of AIG General Insurance for 6 of his 12 years with the company. Prior to AIG, Bracken worked in global finance and audit at GE Insurance, GE Capital and Arthur Andersen & Co.

“James’ extensive leadership experience in insurance prepares him well to lead our Finance function and contribute meaningfully on our North American leadership team,” said Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn. “His predecessor paves the way for a smooth transition. I thank Peter for his strong stewardship throughout his 4+ years as our North America CFO, and I wish him continued success as we continue to work with him in his new Group role.”

As Zurich North America CFO, Bracken will oversee Actuarial, Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Corporate Tax, Treasury, Planning and Performance Management, and Finance Operations. He will report to Terryn and be a member of the Zurich North America Executive Committee, the Zurich Group Leadership Team, the Zurich North America Leadership Team and the Zurich Group Finance Executive Team. He will be based at Zurich North America’s headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Bracken holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Durham University in England, where he began his career as a UK Chartered Accountant.

Hirs’ new role at Zurich Insurance Group was previously held by Dalynn Hoch, who recently rejoined Zurich North America to lead the RCIS crop insurance business.

Hirs previously held regional CFO roles in Zurich Asia Pacific, Zurich Global Corporate North America and Zurich Switzerland. Hirs joined Zurich Group M&A in 2005 after several years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. In his next role as Group Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Hirs will report to Group CFO Claudia Cordioli.