Effective today, Zurich Financial Services Group will conduct its business in Canada under a new moniker. The global insurance giant has rechristened its Canadian operations as Zurich North America Canada.

Although the name is a bit of a mouthful, the company says that the new identity positions Canada as part of the Group’s North America Corporate Business division.

Zurich North America Canada will continue to offer personal life insurance products, as well as personal and corporate property and casualty insurance to the Canadian marketplace.

The name change reflects the streamlined organizational structure introduced by Zurich Financial Services Group in July 2001 to strengthen the operational management of the group.

Under this structure, Zurich North America Canada is a business unit of the North America Corporate Business Division. As such, it has direct access to Zurich’s North America technology and business capabilities, and shares common services on a North American basis.

“We have functioned on a North American platform since November 2000,” says Barry Gilway, chief executive officer for Canada. “This identity change aligns us with Zurich in the U.S. and underscores our ability to leverage costs across North America. Our access to a wider pool of resources will benefit Canadians because it means we can offer them quality insurance products at competitive costs.”

In July 2001, Zurich Financial Services Group realigned its organizational structure into four geographic business divisions: continental Europe; UKISA/Asia Pacific (United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa and Asia Pacific); North America Consumer and Latin America; and North America Corporate.