QBE has provided additional details on its decision last month to separate its Australia and Asia Pacific (which includes New Zealand) divisions.

Speaking at the insurer’s half-year results announcement last week, CEO Frank O’Halloran said the move reflects the differences between the two regions and also allows the group to inject fresh talent.

He confirmed his earlier statement that the decision was supported by former Australia Asia Pacific division CEO Vince McLenaghan, who was made redundant in the restructure.

“I’ve always been a great believer that like any good sporting team you have to change your players every now and again to stay at the top of the ladder,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“That’s not saying that Vince wasn’t performing, just that we felt we needed to have a chief executive of Australian operations and [new Australia CEO] Colin Fagen is an outstanding individual. He deserved to get an opportunity to run Australia.”

John Neal, Mr O’Halloran’s heir apparent and Global Underwriting Operations CEO, who oversees both the Australia and Asia Pacific divisions, says the move was driven by the different dynamics of the businesses.

“We’re very clear about what our objectives are in Australia,” he said. “We do see ourselves as a leading commercial insurer in this market, so we think we’ve got a responsibility to lead the market – that is, in the way in which we interface with brokers, the way in which we use technology to improve our business processes and… to get pricing right, so Australia’s got a very clear agenda.”

He says the Asia Pacific division, which is headed up by Michael Goodwin, is an “embryonic, opportunity market”.

“We see a real chance to build our relationships, particularly with the international brokers in Asia Pacific, particularly around the markets in Singapore and Hong Kong.

“And if you look at the sheer scale of population across that region, we’ve got to be more technologically advanced in the way in which we take product to market,” Mr Neal said.