Zurich to home global travel business in London following AIG unit merger

Zurich Insurance Group will move the base of operation for its personal travel insurance and assistance business, Zurich Cover-More, from Australia-based Sydney to the UK’s London in Q1 2027, according to Mario Greco, the insurer’s group chief executive.

This geographical switch will enable Zurich Cover-More to benefit from “the competent people available in London”, as well as empower the insurer to take advantage of the capital’s status as “a centre for global businesses in financial services and insurance”.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Greco said: “There aren’t that many places in the world where you can run global businesses – and London offers that. Historically, London has been a centre for global businesses in financial services and insurance – and it still offers that.

“Today, we are the biggest commercial insurance company in the UK. We are the biggest presence [in] Lloyd’s with Beazley and then our travel business that we will move here is the second biggest globally. I think it’s quite important the presence we have in the UK in London.”

Greco added that Zurich currently does not plan to move any further business units to London.

Division prepares to take flight

Zurich’s travel insurance arm has been on a growth trajectory since 2017, when it bought Australia-based Cover-More Group for more than $700m (£368m).

In December 2024, the insurer then confirmed that it had completed its $622m (£468m) purchase of AIG’s global personal travel insurance and assistance business – which included its Travel Guard brand.

Greco’s plan at this point was to merge Travel Guard and Cover-More Group to create the new corporate brand of Zurich Cover-More, which would become the parent company to subsidiaries Travel Guard, Travelex Insurance, Cover-More Travel Insurance, World Travel Protection, Blue Insurance and Universal Assistance.

Greco told Insurance Times last week that this merger, establishing the revitalised Zurich Cover-More brand, “will be practically finished by the end of this year”, with “the merged entity” running as a “global business out of London” from 2027’s first quarter – rather than remaining in Cover-More Group’s current Australian headquarters.

He said: “We [needed] to merge and combine the two organisations – and that’s a classical merger where we combine two organisations which do the same job and they need to be integrated. Once they’re integrated, we move it to London.”