QBE Ventures CEO James Orchard has announced he is relocating from Sydney to the UK.

Mr Orchard says he is looking forward to joining his QBE Europe colleagues and more closely supporting QBE Ventures' efforts in the northern hemisphere, and connecting with founders and the broader insurtech and innovation ecosystems in London.

“My role remains the same, just based in the UK. I will still be active with our Australian business and continue to chair Insurtech Australia,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“QBE Ventures has amazing talent spread across our UK, Australian and US operations and I look forward to continuing our work with start-ups and supporting them to access the global reach of the QBE Insurance Group.”

QBE appointed Mr Orchard to the Sydney-based role in early 2020 to focus on research and development, new ventures, and “customer-led, data-driven approaches”.

He had spent more than five years at IAG, finishing as EGM Innovation, and previously worked at Wesfarmers Insurance and Leighton Holdings.