Zurich Australia names David Wainwright as Chief Risk Officer

Zurich Financial Services Australia (Zurich) has promoted David Wainwright to Chief Risk Officer for Australia and New Zealand, effective 6 January 2025.

He succeeds Jaimie Sach, who has announced his retirement after serving as Chief Risk Officer at Zurich since 2019.

Wainwright has nearly 25 years of experience in financial services and is currently the Chief Risk Officer for Zurich’s Life business in the United Kingdom. He will relocate from the UK to Sydney for the role and report to Sid Medappa, Zurich’s Regional Head of Risk for Asia Pacific (APAC).

Wainwright’s previous roles include various risk management and leadership positions at Zurich UK, Nomura Securities, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), and HSBC Global Banking and Markets.

“Mr Wainwright brings a strong breadth of global experience to this role, paired with an impressive technical and leadership capability,” said Justin Delaney, Chief Executive Officer at Zurich.

“He will play a key role in driving Zurich’s local risk strategy against a backdrop of an increasingly complex environment. We look forward to welcoming him to Zurich’s local leadership team in the new year,” Delaney adds.

Wainwright expressed his enthusiasm for the new position, commenting, “I am delighted and honoured to be joining the Zurich team in Australia and look forward to further evolving the team’s strong risk management capability.”