Popular industry stalwart Terry Ibbotson has retired from QBE, stepping down as its Global Head of Distribution.

Mr Ibbotson was appointed Global Head of Distribution in April last year. He had previously served as CEO of QBE Australia since 2004.

Prior to that he was the driving force behind QBE Mercantile Mutual, QBE’s highly regarded joint venture with ING that was formed in 1999. A change management expert with a PhD in business organisation, he is highly regarded in the industry.

QBE Global Underwriting Operations CEO John Neal says Mr Ibbotson “has served QBE extremely well in a number of executive roles over the past 20 years, and at 66 years of age we wish him well as he looks to pursue other interests”.

Mr Neal says that the role of global head of distribution will be relocated to New York, but no replacement for Mr Ibbotson has yet been named.

“Recognising that the head office locations of the major international brokers are all in the northern hemisphere, we have decided to relocate the responsibilities for co-ordinating these important business relationships to New York,” Mr Neal told insuranceNEWS.com.au.