QBE picks Barclays' Larnach as new group chief risk officer

QBE Insurance Group has appointed Fiona Larnach to take over the role of group chief risk officer (CRO) from March next year. She will replace Peter Grewal, who has decided to return to the UK.

Larnach will be based in QBE's head office in Sydney, Australia, and will form part of the group executive committee.

Larnach is an experienced leader who has worked across risk management, finance and treasury for almost thirty years. She has held a number of senior executive roles at major financial services companies in Australia and the UK and was most recently the CRO for Barclays UK.

Prior to Barclays, she was the CRO, retail banking for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and previously a risk advisory partner at Ernst & Young consulting to insurance, banking and wealth management clients. She has also worked at Westpac Bank, AMP, GE Mortgage Insurance and Citibank.

QBE's interim group CEO Richard Pryce, said: “We have worked hard in recent years to build our risk capability with good risk management practices now firmly embedded in our day-to-day operations. We are delighted to welcome Fiona to QBE. She brings a unique combination of skills and experience that will help us to further evolve our risk management practice.”

He added: “On behalf of the Group Executive Committee, I would like to thank Peter for his contribution to QBE and wish him well for the future.”