Andrew Horton

Andrew Horton became Group CEO of QBE Insurance Group in September 2021, bringing a wealth of specialty insurance experience from his previous role as CEO of Beazley plc, a highly regarded Lloyd's of London insurer. QBE is one of Australia's largest companies and one of the world's top 20 general insurance and reinsurance groups, operating across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific with annual gross written premiums exceeding $20 billion. Horton inherited a company that had struggled with underwriting discipline for years — QBE had a history of large reserve charges, catastrophe losses, and inconsistent profitability that frustrated investors despite the company's significant scale and market position. His mandate was clear: improve underwriting quality, optimize the portfolio, and deliver consistent returns. Under Horton's leadership, QBE has shown significant improvement in its combined ratio (the key profitability metric for insurers), benefiting from both better underwriting selection and a favorable hard market pricing environment. Key stock drivers include catastrophe loss experience (QBE is exposed to natural disasters globally), prior-year reserve development, investment portfolio returns, premium rate trends, and Horton's ability to sustain underwriting discipline through the inevitable softening of insurance pricing cycles.