QBE Insurance has named long-serving executive Chris Killourhy as its next group chief financial officer, promoting the head of its global reinsurance arm to one of the insurer’s most senior posts.
Killourhy, who has led QBE Re since 2022, will take up the new position on Jan. 1, 2026, pending regulatory sign-off. He will relocate from London to Sydney and report directly to group CEO Andrew Horton, joining QBE’s executive committee.
The appointment caps almost two decades with the insurer and reflects a steady progression through its financial and actuarial ranks. Over the years, Killourhy has held a succession of leadership roles including CFO for QBE International, CFO for Australia & New Zealand, and group chief actuary.
Before re-joining QBE in 2017, he spent time at the Bermuda Monetary Authority and Tokio Marine Europe, having started his actuarial career at Deloitte and Novae.
In an interview earlier this year, Killourhy said QBE Re had maintained strong momentum despite higher claims and an increasingly competitive rating environment, including wildfire losses in the United States.
“We’re pretty pleased with how the year has gone,” he said. “Like a lot of people, we’ve definitely seen rate softening, but largely in markets where we believe prices remain adequate and can sustain it.”
He described the early-season California wildfires as “a tough start”, but added that reinsurers’ pricing response – particularly during the US renewals – had been “pretty sensible”.
Since taking charge, Killourhy has roughly doubled QBE Re’s premium income while deliberately trimming its cedant base. The aim, he explained, has been to grow in ways that reinforce long-term partnerships rather than chase volume for its own sake.
“This probably isn’t a market for also-rans,” he remarked. “For many of our key clients we’re now firmly within their top 10, and for the larger brokers we’d be among their top 20.”
Killourhy has also highlighted how a strong reinsurance division can serve a wider strategic purpose for a diversified group such as QBE. After major loss events like Hurricane Ian, the company reassessed how its reinsurance arm complements the primary insurance business – providing earnings diversity and exposure to markets not heavily represented elsewhere in the portfolio.
While acknowledging further rate softening in some lines this year, Killourhy said opportunities remain for disciplined players with robust capital and a clear underwriting focus.
His promotion formalises a career built on both technical expertise and strategic vision – qualities QBE will be keen to draw upon as it steers through a period of shifting reinsurance dynamics and continued global volatility.
