QBE Insurance Group
Australia's second-largest international insurer — founded 1886 in Townsville as North Queensland Insurance, named for a 1973 three-way merger — now a $24B-premium global group that was the first non-European major insurer to exit thermal coal.
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- Location
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Country
- Australia
- Founded
- 1886, as the North Queensland Insurance Company, Townsville
- Listed
- Australian Securities Exchange (QBE)
- Scale
- Local presence in 27 countries; gross written premium US$24 billion in 2025
- 2025 result
- Net profit US$2.2 billion, up 21.2%; combined operating ratio 91.9%
Overview
QBE Insurance Group is Australia’s second-largest international insurer, headquartered in Sydney with a local presence in 27 countries across personal, business, corporate, and institutional markets, spanning underwriting and reinsurance (Motley Fool Australia). Its name is an acronym with a 140-year pedigree: the company was first established as the North Queensland Insurance Company in Townsville in 1886 by two Scottish shipping partners, who later set up the Bankers’ and Traders’ Insurance Company in the 1920s; the two merged with the Equitable Probate and General Insurance Company in 1973 to become QBE — Queensland Insurance, Bankers’ and Traders’, Equitable — in what was regarded at the time as one of the biggest corporate mergers in Australian history, with QBE listing on the ASX the same year (Motley Fool Australia). By its 125th anniversary in 2011 it had grown into one of the 25 largest global insurance and reinsurance companies (insuranceNEWS.com.au).
The coal exit
QBE’s most distinctive strategic move of the last decade was climatic. In 2019 it announced it would stop offering any new direct insurance for construction projects tied to thermal coal mines, coal-fired power stations, or thermal coal transport infrastructure from July 1 of that year, and phase out all direct insurance services for thermal coal customers by 2030 (Insurance Business). Thermal coal customers made up less than 0.5% of its premium revenue, and it committed to targeting zero direct investment in the thermal coal industry — while continuing to insure metallurgical coal and oil and gas (Insurance Business). The move made QBE the 11th major global insurer to restrict coal underwriting, and the first headquartered outside Europe (Insurance Business).
The turnaround
The coal exit coincided with a long financial rehabilitation that culminated in record results. For FY2025, reported in February 2026, QBE posted a full-year net profit of US$2.2 billion — up 21.2% — on gross written premiums of US$24 billion, up 7%, sending the shares up 7.1% on the day (AAP). Catastrophe claims came in at just US$751 million, or 4.1% of net insurance revenue, well under allowance despite Cyclone Alfred and east-coast storms (AAP). The combined operating ratio improved to 91.9% from 93.1%, adjusted return on equity reached 19.8%, and the full-year dividend rose 25% to A$1.09 per share (AAP). CEO Andrew Horton credited portfolio pruning — including winding down the North America middle-market segment from 2024 to cut property-catastrophe exposure — for the result (AAP).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not claim a single definitive employee or country count — sources vary by year (27 countries in recent coverage versus 49 at the 2011 anniversary). The founders’ names rest on one tier2 source and are stated as such. The early-2020s losses that preceded the turnaround are described only as market-reported context, not from a fully-read audited source. The coal phase-out describes the policy as announced in 2019; its completion status was not verified.
Timeline
- 1886
- The North Queensland Insurance Company is established in Townsville by two Scottish shipping partners, James Burns and Robert Philp, to insure their Burns Philp vessels.
- 1973
- Queensland Insurance, the Bankers' and Traders' Insurance Company, and the Equitable Life and General Insurance Co. merge to form QBE — the letters of the combined name — in one of Australia's biggest corporate mergers to that date; QBE lists on the ASX.
- 2011
- QBE marks 125 years of operation, by then one of the 25 largest global insurance and reinsurance companies with more than 14,000 employees in 49 countries.
- 2019
- QBE announces it will stop new direct insurance for thermal coal mines, power stations and transport infrastructure from July 1, and phase out all direct thermal-coal insurance by 2030 — the first major insurer outside Europe to do so.
- 2026
- QBE reports FY2025 net profit of US$2.2 billion, up 21.2%, on US$24 billion of gross written premium, with catastrophe claims well under allowance and a combined operating ratio of 91.9%.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The founders' names (James Burns and Robert Philp) come from a single tier2 source; treated as stated but not multi-source verified.
- Employee counts and country presence vary across sources by year (27 countries per Motley Fool; 49 per the 2011 anniversary report); the profile uses the most recent figure and notes the discrepancy.
- The 2021 US$1.5 billion loss referenced in market coverage was not verified from a fully-read source and is described only as reported context for the turnaround.
Sources
4 sources (1 tier 1, 3 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Built entirely from independent sources fetched and read in full: AAP (tier1), insuranceNEWS.com.au, Insurance Business, and Motley Fool Australia (tier2). No first-party material was used. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited.
- Supports: FY2025 net profit US$2.2B (+21.2%), GWP US$24B, cat claims US$751M, combined ratio 91.9%, ROE 19.8%, dividend, CEO Andrew Horton, North America middle-market wind-down Open original source
- QBE set to mark 125 years Tier 2Supports: 1886 origins, 1973 merger, 125-year milestone, global scale at the time Open original source
- Supports: Thermal coal exit (no new business from July 1 2019, full phase-out by 2030), <0.5% of premium, continued metallurgical coal/oil/gas cover Open original source
- Supports: Founding as North Queensland Insurance 1886, B&T in the 1920s, 1973 merger and ASX listing, second-largest international insurer, Sydney HQ, 27 countries Open original source
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