SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Aug. 11, 2025 — Zurich North America, a leading provider of construction and commercial insurance, has officially launched its Fronted Master Builders Risk (MBR) solution — a first-of-its-kind structure designed to handle the scale, scope, and complexity of today’s multibillion-dollar construction projects worldwide.
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The innovative program addresses the needs of projects driven by the rapid expansion of e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing, where construction timelines are longer, risks are more varied, and values often exceed hundreds of millions of dollars per site.
"We began developing this at the request of an e-commerce company for one of the largest MBR programs ever created," said Patrick McBride, Head of Construction Property for Zurich North America. "Since its initial introduction, we've rapidly scaled Zurich's Fronted MBR solution into a global offering, based on demand. Brokers and customers immediately grasped the benefits. The enthusiasm we're seeing tells us we're addressing a real need in the market."
Since its inception, the program has supported over $80 billion in insurable values, surpassing internal forecasts. This rapid adoption also earned Zurich the Insurer Team of the Year award at the Business Insurance 2025 U.S. Insurance Awards.
At the core of Zurich’s offering is a streamlined, single-policy structure that merges claims handling, risk engineering services, and multinational coverage integration. Under this setup, Zurich issues the fronting policy, then transfers the balance of exposure to a panel of reinsurers. This approach enables:
"This solution is a direct response to the evolving needs of our customers," said Tobias Cushing, Head of Construction at Zurich North America. "We're seeing projects that are not only larger in value but also more complex in scope and longer in duration. Our Fronted MBR solution is built to simplify the insurance process for these mega projects — offering contract certainty, multi-year continuity and global reach in a single, cohesive structure."
The Zurich Fronted MBR program is particularly designed for owners and contractors managing multiple projects exceeding $250 million each, often spanning both domestic and global markets.
Key benefits include:
A notable innovation in the program is the automation of project enrollment — a process that was traditionally manual. Zurich’s cross-functional team developed a technology-enabled workflow that accelerates multinational coverage integration, premium calculation, and documentation. This enhancement significantly boosts both efficiency and scalability for clients managing multiple large projects simultaneously.
"We're proud to have the capabilities to bring a Fronted Master Builders Risk program to our Construction customers, who have trusted Zurich as a market leader for over 25 years," said Kelly Kinzer, Head of Specialties at Zurich North America. "Traditional programs couldn't meet the scale, and few carriers could put together this kind of simplified, holistic solution. It is one way we're delivering on the specialization that our customers increasingly look for from Zurich."
With mega projects becoming increasingly common in the infrastructure, tech, and manufacturing sectors, Zurich’s Fronted MBR solution may represent a broader industry shift toward integrated, technology-driven insurance models. Analysts note that simplifying global risk coverage and streamlining claims could set a new standard for how large-scale construction is insured worldwide.
Originally reported by Zurich in KTLA 5.
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