XL hires Zurich head to lead property risk engineering

XL Group has hired Dave Schmitz to lead XL Group’s global Property Risk Engineering Services, including XL Global Asset Protection Services, a network of risk engineers who provide on-site property risk analysis and support clients’ property loss prevention programmes.

Schmitz succeeds Tim Heinze in this role. Earlier this year, Heinze took on the role of property operations officer for XL Group’s insurance operations.

Based in XL’s Atlanta office, Schmitz reports to Michele Sansone, President, North America property for XL Group’s insurance operations.

Schmitz spent the last 16 years at Zurich Insurance where he most recently held the role of head of property, South Region, and previously, served for nine years as risk engineering director.

Sansone said: “One of the most impressive things about Dave is his track record related to people, performance and project management. His leadership, strong risk engineering background and commitment to client service, along with his past experience as a line of business leader will help our property risk engineering team move to the next level of performance.”

Ian France, chief underwriting officer for XL Group’s international property insurance operations, said: "We're very excited to welcome Dave to XL as we believe his experience and background in both underwriting and risk engineering will help us to provide even stronger risk management support to our customers. Our risk engineering team already plays an essential role in providing world class risk evaluation and loss prevention services to our clients and we will be working closely with Dave to enhance these services even further."