Govt insurer boss to leave
The CEO of
Southern Response, Peter Rose, is set to step down in the middle of this year with the search for his replacement now on.
Southern Response board chairman Ross Butler said Rose’s leadership had been ‘invaluable’ and they were ‘extremely proud’ of the contributions he had made.
“Peter’s experience and ability to adapt quickly has provided the organisation with strong leadership to get the right systems in place,” Fairfax Media reported.
Butler said Rose had stayed on longer in the role than he intended at the board’s request.
The new CEO may need to handle an
impending group action.
QBE ratings announced
International rating agency Fitch has affirmed its ratings and outlook for QBE, it has been announced.
The agency said that the insurer will keep its long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of ‘A’ and its insurer financial strength rating (IFS) of ‘A+’ with an outlook of stable.
Fitch also affirmed the IFS or QBE Lenders Mortgage Insurance of ‘AA-’.
In a statement, the ratings agency backed the changes the business made over the last two years which led to a $1 billion turnaround in February last year.
“The affirmation of QBE’s ratings reflect its very strong capital ratios, solid financial leverage ratios, historically strong underwriting performance – which is supported by sound aggregate management and a comprehensive reinsurance program – and a low-risk investment portfolio.
“The group’s operational efficiency program and other remediation efforts are supportive of future operating performance, reserve adequacy has improved and previously weak interest coverage ratios are strengthening,” the statement continued.
Insurer ranks in sustainability top 100
IAG has become one of only five insurers to feature on a global list of the 100 most sustainable large corporations.
The annual listing, which assesses 6,500 companies from a wide range of industries, is maintained by Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based media and investment advisory company.
It draws on a broad range of criteria including energy, carbon, water and waste productivity, pension fund status, employee turnover and leadership diversity as well as the depth of commitment to sustainability throughout a business.
IAG’s ranking was #74 with a score of 58.8%. The other insurance companies to appear were Storebrand of Norway at #24 with a score of 67.3%; Sun Life Financial of Canada at #66 with 60.1%; Prudential Financial at #78 with 58.5% and the UK’s Aviva at #79 with 58.4%.
