| Zurich Insurance Group to establish IT hubs to service global business |
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| March 26th: Zurich Insurance Group is to establish two IT hubs in Dublin with the creation of 112 new jobs. Zurich's European HQ is based in Dublin, and the investment is supported by IDA Ireland. According to the Finance Dublin Yearbook 2013 Zurich Insurance plc (ZIP) is Zurich's European general insurance risk carrier based in Ireland and has thirteen regulated branches across Europe in Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom as well as conducting business in Ireland. |
"On 1st January 2010 with the aim of simplifying its legal structure and giving it more flexibility to manage its capital, Zurich transferred the vast majority of its general insurance portfolios to local branches of Zurich Insurance plc. Most of Zurich's global corporate division’s business written in the EU has been progressively transferred to ZIP branches since 2005. With Zurich being a Swiss-based corporation it chose to structure its EU business into a single EU-based risk carrier, with a branch network, as it is both capital and operationally efficient. ZIP is expected to generate revenues of €11 billion once all of the portfolio transfers are complete. Zurich Insurance plc generated gross written premiums of €8.9 billion in 2011 (2010: € 7.9 billion)" according to the Zurich Insurance entry in the Yearbook.
IDA Ireland said today that the hubs will provide services to the Zurich businesses globally and in Europe. "One hub will support Zurich’s IT service management and the other will support Cyber Security Management. Recruitment has already begun for graduates, senior specialists and management positions covering a wide range of areas from change management to cyber analysts to disaster recovery specialists", it said.
Announcing the project, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, "The further expansion of Zurich with the creation of 112 new high quality jobs is excellent news for Dublin and Ireland. The Government's Action Plan for Jobs has a specific focus on financial services and the digital industry. The new investment by Zurich in two new IT Hubs demonstrates the value of keeping Ireland at the cutting edge of the expanding digital industry and maintaining our strong financial services industry. The Government is delighted to support a global company like Zurich as it builds on its established European HQ in Dublin. Ireland remains a stable and attractive location for inward investment as we work to improve our competitiveness even further."
Commenting on the announcement, Patrick Manley, CEO of Zurich’s General Insurance segment in Europe said, “Robust IT systems are critical to facilitating fast business decisions and speedy customer delivery. By establishing these hubs we at Zurich can significantly upgrade our IT capabilities and deliver ‘round the clock security monitoring of our IT assets globally. We highly appreciate the support that we receive from IDA Ireland for this project.’’
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD said: “ICT and financial services are two crucial sectors – often overlapping – which we have targeted for employment growth as part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs. One key feature of our approach has been to target sub-sectors such as ICT security where we have particular strengths. ICT alone has created more than 11,000 additional jobs since we have taken office, and I am determined to ensure that we build on this to achieve the level of employment growth we need. Today’s announcement that Zurich, a world-leading financial services company, is locating further facilities in Dublin is great news for the city and for the employment in the ICT sector”.
Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said, ‘Zurich currently employs over 1,000 people in Ireland with the company’s European headquarters for general insurance located in Dublin along with its general insurance and life divisions servicing Irish and cross border markets. Ireland was chosen for this innovative investment due to the success of Zurich’s existing operations here and for our IT and cyber security talent, skills and research capability including the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigation Centre at University College Dublin.’ |
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