QBE MD Frank O’Halloran isn’t a man entirely comfortable in the limelight, unless he’s talking about his company or commenting on industry matters.

So it was interesting to see both his health and his salary earning praise after the QBE AGM. Mr O’Halloran revealed he has never taken a sick day in his 37-year career.

His salary of $706,000 is viewed by analysts as modest compared with many of his less-successful peers, and the incentive scheme that sets targets for him will require him to stay healthy. Mr O’Halloran was voted 200,000 options, but it’s conditional on earnings per share growing 12.5% for the next three years.

The targets were described by QBE Chairman John Cloney as “much higher than almost anybody else in the market”.

He’s off to a good start, with a 28% rise in net profit to $101 million for the six months to December 31.