Insurance giant QBE has appointed Vivek Bhatia as chief executive of its Australian and New Zealand business.
Mr Bhatia is currently the chief executive of icare, the NSW government's manager of insurance and care schemes, and was formerly chief executive of Australian underwriting operations at Wesfarmers Insurance.
He will join QBE in the next three months, and steps into the role vacated by Pat Regan, who was promoted to QBE group chief executive in September.
Mr Regan says with 20 years in insurance and management consulting, Mr Bhatia will bring a wealth of experience to the role.
"He reflects QBE's passion for building customer and employee satisfaction and is well credentialed to leverage the strong platform in the Australia and New Zealand business," Mr Regan said.
Mr Bhatia said it was a privilege to take on the leadership role at QBE, and said he was excited to further enhance QBE's strong position in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Meanwhile, QBE has sold its Australian life insurance business QBE Life to the newly formed Integrity Group for $21.7 million.
Integrity Group said it will use the business as a launching pad to provide new products and processes in the Australian market, using new technology.
QBE shares gained three cents, or 0.3 per cent, to close at $10.57 on Wednesday.
