QBE chief pays a high price for his love life

QBE chief executive John Neal has lost more than $550,000 in pay for a delay in telling his board that he was involved in a relationship with his personal assistant.

The insurance boss led QBE to a 23 per cent increase in fullyear profit but the company’s annual report shows he had $552,500 in incentive payments docked for what was termed “personal decisions ... inconsistent with the board’s expectations”.

QBE was not specific about why Mr Neal’s short-term in- centives had been cut but it is understood that he failed to notify the board quickly enough that he was in a relationship with his personal assistant.

Yet QBE lauded Mr Neal’s performance as chief executive and still paid him $2.2 million in short-term incentives as part of a total remuneration package of just over $3 million.

“His performance is well regarded by the board,” QBE said yesterday in its annual report.

“However, both parties agree some recent personal decisions by the chief executive have been inconsistent with the board’s expectations.”

QBE’s code of conduct states that employees must disclose to their manager any close personal relationship that may cause a conflict of interest. There is no suggestion of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Neal.

QBE launched a $1 billion share buyback after its fullyear profit jumped 23 per cent to $US844 million ($A1.1 billion). Its insurance profit mar- gin for the 12 months to December 31 rose 0.7 percentage points to 9.7 per cent, while adjusted profit — which strips out one-off costs and asset sales — rose 2.5 per cent to $US833 million.

QBE said there were signs of an improving market in the insurance industry and that gross written premium, which fell 4.6 per cent to $US14.4 billion ($A18.7 billion) in 2016 — was likely to remain stable.

QBE’s shares closed up 30 cents, or 2.4 per cent, at $12.60. AAP