Aussie insurer shakes up organisation structure

One of the Australian market's key insurers is combining two divisions to create a new one which, it says, will position it for profitable growth.

Insurance News

By Chinwe Akomah

Australian-based QBE Insurance Group Limited is changing its organisational structure to include an emerging markets division which, it says, will position the business for profitable growth.

Following a review of the group's overall organisational structure, it has concluded that it will combine the Latin American and Asia Pacific operations to create the new division, providing opportunities for organic and inorganic growth.

QBE Group CEO John Neal said: “A critical part of our value creation model, outlined in our 2012 and 2013 annual reports, has been QBE’s focus on building our presence in emerging markets. When looking at both these regions through the emerging markets lens, we see significant upside for QBE, both in the way we operate and the way we work to deliver relevant and differentiated products and services to our growing customer base.”

As a result of bringing the two divisions together, current CEO of Asia Pacific Operations, David Fried, has been appointed the CEO for the emerging markets division.

With extensive experience in both regions, he will work closely with current Latin America Operations CEO, Jose Sojo, to ensure that the new division is established with a clear understanding of the depth and breadth of opportunities in both markets.

Neal said: “This change in structure and management also aligns with Jose Sojo’s decision to take on a new challenge outside our group. Jose will remain with the group until the end of 2014 to ensure there is a thorough handover to David. Given Jose’s experience and understanding of our business, we are continuing to explore a number of ways through which we can retain his involvement with QBE in the region.”

All changes take effect from 15th of August 2014.
 

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