The company has gained an insurance brokering license by buying a 24.5 percent stake in Beijing-based Best Harmonious Insurance Brokers Co, allowing Zurich Financial to expand into several cities at once, said Johnny Chen, head of the company's Greater China and Southeast Asia operations.
"We could hire 10,000 agents in China tomorrow if we wanted,'' Schiro said.
"Quantity's never an issue in China. But what we really want is to train highly skilled agents to sell to the higher-end customers we're targeting.'' The company now has no agents in China.
Overseas insurers are eager to expand in China, where policy sales are being powered by the world's fastest-growing major economy. The nation's insurance market expanded 22 percent to 416.3 billion yuan ($54.8 billion) in the first seven months from a year earlier, according to the industry regulator.
Zurich Financial is taking management control of Best Harmonious and renaming it Zurich Insurance Brokers (Beijing). The new company will help the firm push beyond corporate policies and into China's life and auto insurance markets, said Schiro.