QBE refreshes leadership ranks in Europe, North America post exit

QBE Insurance Group has unveiled two key leadership appointments, including a new chief executive officer (CEO) of the company’s North American business who joined from Marsh.

Julie Wood (pictured left) has been named new CEO of QBE’s North America division, taking over from Todd Jones who left the role in August.

Wood joined QBE in January 2023 as group head of distribution and was serving as interim North America CEO since the end of August. Her appointment is subject to regulatory approval, and she remains on QBE’s Group executive committee reporting to Andrew Horton.

Before joining QBE, Wood worked at Marsh as Southeast partnership & zonal leader and served as a member of the company’s US executive committee. Prior to that, she worked as zonal casualty leader in Atlanta. Wood has over 15 years of experience serving in senior executive roles at Zurich Insurance Group, including global customer relationship management and underwriting leadership.

For Europe, QBE has appointed Naintara Agarwal (pictured right) as the director of underwriting and portfolio management. She will report to Beatriz Valenti Barbat, director of insurance, QBE Europe and Nick Hankin, chief underwriting officer, QBE International. She is based in London.

Agarwal will be responsible for leading the underwriting strategy for Europe, working closely with QBE Europe’s general managers to ensure longer term profitability and growth.

Agarwal has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, having held leadership roles in developing underwriting strategies, portfolio management, pricing and developing and executing business plans across several business lines. Most recently, she was group head of underwriting performance, having joined QBE in 2019.

Valenti Barbat said: “I’m delighted to have someone of Naintara’s calibre joining the European team. We have major ambitions for the European business, and Naintara’s arrival will help ensure we position the region for its next stage of profitable growth by deepening our core offerings, diversifying our products and expanding in territories.”

Commenting on Wood’s appointment as CEO North America, Horton said: “Julie brings deep industry expertise with a strong customer focus, underwriting expertise and knowledge of the North America market.

“We have the right strategy in place for our North America business and Julie will continue our focus on our three core insurance segments of Crop, Specialty and Commercial. Her appointment highlights the bench strength of high caliber leaders within QBE and reflects the focus we have on talent and leadership.”

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