QBE

The reinsurance plan will reduce its North American peak peril retention.

Richard Pryce will be succeeded by Jason Harris, who has spent over three years at Axa XL.

Jonathan Parry, current CEO of QBE's reinsurance group, will retire in a year's time.

The insurer lifted the attachment on an aggregate portion of its group reinsurance treaty, which was otherwise unchanged after its restructure for 2019.

The Insurance Council of Australia anticipates many more claims in the coming weeks.

More than 150 homes have been destroyed as fires blaze across New South Wales and Queensland, according to reports.

The insurer’s overall cat losses were below its budget as higher Australian disaster activity was offset by benign international claims.

The expected losses from the December hailstorm in Sydney have risen from A$871mn to A$1.2bn.

The insurer reiterated the details of its restructured group reinsurance programme.

Sources said that Berkshire Hathaway will not support the cover for 2019.

QBE Re has appointed Stephen Postlewhite, the former CEO of Aspen’s primary insurance business, as its deputy global chief underwriting officer.

An "awful lot" of trapped ILS capital may turn out to be lost capital as 2017 claims evolve, chief underwriting officer at QBE Re Jonathan Parry said during a panel debate at Trading Risk's London ILS event last week.