QBE Australia and New Zealand CEO Colin Fagen will become Group Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for global growth and efficiency initiatives.

As reported by insuranceNEWS.com.au in a Breaking News bulletin last Tuesday, Mr Fagen will be replaced by the current head of QBE’s corporate partners and direct business Tim Plant.

Mr Plant has more than 20 years’ experience in international insurance and reinsurance, and has spent 13 years with QBE.

He has held a number of senior positions at Elders, QBE’s regional and rural insurer. Before joining Elders in 2002 he was client manager for Swiss Re.

Group CEO John Neal says he is delighted Mr Fagen agreed to take the new, broader role.

He says the promotion of Mr Plant is a “logical decision” given his strong contribution.

Mr Fagen says QBE is “one of the most diversified insurers in terms of its geographic and product reach, and I am excited by the opportunity to leverage our many strengths for the benefit of our customers, brokers and business partners”.

“Tim and I have known each other for a long time and obviously it’s great that the new CEO of Australia and New Zealand has such a deep working knowledge of our business,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The team will work with Tim to keep our momentum going in the market.

“We will continue to take steps to build on our strong relationships, making further improvements to increase our speed and quality of service for all our partners.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time working within the Australian and NZ team and look forward to continuing to work with them – and our wider team around the globe – in my new role.”

Both positions take effect on August 18.

Meanwhile, former Chubb Australia MD Mark Lingafelter will become MD Asia-Pacific at QBE.

Mr Lingafelter left Chubb in May and will take up the Singapore-based position next month, reporting to CEO Emerging Markets David Fried.