Zurich launches Fronted MBR solution for multibillion-dollar construction programs

Zurich North America has launched its Fronted Master Builders Risk (MBR) solution, a new insurance product designed to handle unprecedented scale and complexity of today’s largest construction projects.

This offering is particularly relevant given the growth in sectors like e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced manufacturing.

“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.

Adding: “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.”

The program has already supported over $80 billion in insurable values, far surpassing projections, Zurich stated.

The Zurich Global Fronted MBR solution offers a unified, single-policy framework. This comprehensive solution integrates multinational coverage, risk engineering services, and claims handling.

Zurich issues the fronting policy and then cedes the balance of the exposure to a panel of reinsurers, enabling efficient deployment of capacity across borders and timelines and simplifying coverage management for the broker and customer.

“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 coverage has been specifically designed for owners and contractors with project pipelines that include multiple individual projects valued at over $250 million, especially those with both domestic and global risk.

The new solution offers a single-carrier solution for all administrative needs, including underwriting, risk engineering, invoicing and claims; availability of multi-year terms and globally consistent coverage, which helps with project bidding and forecasting as well as reducing concerns about non-concurrent policies.

It also offers simplified claims administration through a single point of contact who directly indemnifies the owner or contractor.

A significant innovation in this offering, Zurich highlighted, is the automation of the project enrolment process, which was previously handled manually.

Zurich’s cross-functional team created a technology-driven workflow to streamline multinational coverage integration, premium calculations, and document generation, leading to substantial improvements in efficiency and scalability.

“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.”