QBE CEO Frank O’Halloran has been nominated for the International Insurance Society’s (IIS) 2009 Insurance Hall of Fame Awards.

Also up for the honour – two of the five will be recognised – are White Mountains Insurance Group mastermind Jack Byrne, former Lloyd’s Chairman David Rowland, Zurich Financial Services CEO James Schiro and AIG pioneer Ernest Stempel.

IIS Chairman (and Marsh CEO) Brian Duperreault says it is not surprising, given the current financial crisis, that the candidates chosen share an “extraordinary ability to create growth or to turn an ailing company around”.

The IIS says Mr O’Halloran is an obvious choice for candidate, with his leadership giving QBE “immense growth” and more than 120 acquisitions.

“QBE’s premium revenue growth has been quite extraordinary by comparison with other companies in this sector,” the IIS said. “Market capitalisation of QBE Group is now around $US20 billion, up 10 times the value when he took over the reins as CEO.”

The awards will be announced at a gala dinner at the 45th Annual IIS Seminar in Amman, Jordan, in June.