Executive Leadership

Vivek Bhatia

Chief Executive Officer

Vivek joined QBE in February 2018 in the role of CEO, Australian & New Zealand Operations.

Before joining QBE, Vivek was inaugural CEO and MD of icare, the NSW Government AUD$32 billion public financial corporation managing the state’s insurance and care schemes.

Vivek has more than 20 years’ experience in the insurance and management consulting sectors. Vivek was previously the CEO of Wesfarmers Insurance in Australia, where he was responsible for leading the multi-brand, multi-channel insurer through a significant transformation journey. He has also co-led McKinsey & Co’s Asia Pacific Restructuring & Transformation practice.

Jason Clarke

Executive General Manager - Intermediary Distribution

Jason has more than 25 years’ experience in the general insurance industry, holding a variety of roles across Australia covering underwriting, distribution and senior management. The Intermediary Distribution business unit includes Australian Intermediaries, International Brokers, Workers Compensation, Underwriting Agencies, Aviation and Marine.

Eleanor Debelle

Chief HR Officer

Interim Executive General Manager, Consumer & Retail Partnerships

With 23 years’ experience in financial services covering central banking, investment consulting, investment management and general insurance, Eleanor is passionate about driving value creation through talent, and building a great place to work for our biggest asset – our people.  

Eleanor joined QBE’s Investment Team in 2015 after 11 years at Insurance Australia Group where she held several senior business roles, covering end-to-end investment management and running an online insurance business.

Eleanor is also Interim Executive General Manager for Consumer & Retail Partnerships and previously held the role of General Manager, Consumer, Affinity & Banking Partnerships.

Eleanor holds a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Economics from the Australian National University.  She is also a GAICD.

Jon Fox

Executive General Manager - Claims

Jon has more than 25 years’ experience within the Australian insurance industry, including senior positions in claims, underwriting, distribution and general management.

Jon joined Elders Insurance in 2002 to establish the company’s national claims capability. Promoted to GM Insurance Operations in 2005 he led the integration of Elders Insurance into QBE after its acquisition in 2009. Appointed General Manager Elders Insurance in late 2011 Jon has delivered strong results and the business has won a number of awards, including the Roy Morgan Business Insurer of the Year.

Jon is a director of several industry boards, including the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

Fiona Hayes-St Clair

Chief Strategy Officer

Fiona is a strategist with 20 years of experience and a passion for customer-centric strategy that delivers commercial results.

With industry experience across the globe, Fiona joined QBE in 2018 and is responsible for its corporate and Insurtech strategies – driving opportunities across Australia and New Zealand to deliver profitable growth.

Prior to QBE, Fiona was General Manager Consumer & Wealth Strategy at National Australia Bank where she helped develop strategies to innovate customer experience, distribution and growth strategies for consumer banking and wealth management products and services. Fiona began her career as a strategy consultant at Booz & Company (now Strategy&) where as a Partner she led the Insurance practice in Australia and NZ.

Fiona has an acute interest in the revolution in customer experience and distribution models brought about by digitisation, and has authored intellectual capital and a number of whitepapers on this topic.

Chris Killourhy

Chief Finance Officer

Chris has close to 20 years of industry experience and a strong background in actuarial, economics, governance, technical pricing, capital modelling and senior management. He was appointed as Interim Chief Financial Officer for the Australia and New Zealand business in 2018.

Chris joined QBE in 2017 as Chief Actuarial Officer, where he led business planning, quarterly valuation, independent validation of Economic Capital Model, technical pricing and actuarial and statistical insights. Prior to this, Chris was the Chief Actuary at Equator Re – the entity responsible for managing the QBE Group’s risk appetite and capital.

Chris has worked for global insurance and consulting companies internationally and in Australia. He is a member of the QBE Group Actuarial Leadership team and of actuary institutions around the world.

Declan Moore

Chief Underwriting Officer

Declan Moore was appointed Chief Underwriting Officer, QBE Australia & New Zealand in August 2016. He has 25 years of insurance experience, with six years at QBE Australia as Head of Actuarial Pricing and then as Operations Manager NSW/ACT where he managed the Underwriting, Finance, and support functions. Declan re-joined the QBE Group in 2011 and prior to his current role, was appointed Group Chief Actuary in 2012.

Bettina Pidcock

Chief Customer Officer

Bettina joined QBE as Executive General Manager – Marketing in 2016, bringing a depth of customer-focused marketing experience from leadership positions at ANZ, TAL, BT Financial Group, St George Bank, Westpac and MLC.

In 2017 Bettina was appointed to Chief Customer Officer (CCO) to cement work undertaken to increase customer focus and spearhead an expanded customer experience capability. The role’s remit also includes leadership of the marketing, communications and digital functions of the business, taking responsibility for championing and enhancing the QBE brand and its assets. Notably, and testament to her leadership skills and customer focus, Bettina is QBE’s first CCO.

MBA qualified, Bettina holds more than 20 years’ business experience and a solid track record increasing engagement and sales through a focus on innovative strategies and data-led insights.

Renée Roberts

Chief Operating Officer

Renée has more than 27 years’ experience as a transformational and strategic operational leader across complex service businesses in Australia, Europe and New Zealand.

With a proven background in leading customer-centric culture transformation and creating effective risk frameworks, Renée is dedicated to improving business capabilities to deliver outstanding results for customers.

Renée joined QBE in 2018 and is responsible for business operations, business transformation, data, information technology and the operations strategy for Australia and New Zealand.

Renée is also a director at Swinburne University Council and an esteemed business mentor.

Phil White

Chief Executive Officer, QBE LMI

Phil is a senior executive with a deep understanding of the insurance, credit risk and the property market, gained from more than 20 years’ experience in management consulting and leadership roles.

Since joining QBE in 2006, Phil has held a variety of senior leadership positions including Head of Strategy and Distribution, Head of Financial Institution General Insurance, Head of Capital Markets and Structured Transactions and Principal New Business Ventures.

Before joining QBE, Phil spent ten years as a management consultant working across Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia and spent a significant part of his career specialising in the UK commercial property market.

Phil is also Director of QBE Mortgage Insurance (Asia) Limited.

Pita Williams

General Counsel

Pita Williams has more than 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry in Australia with extensive knowledge in financial services and insurance law.

Pita joined QBE in 2003 following an 11-year tenure at IAG as senior lawyer and then Managing Lawyer. Prior to IAG, she specialised in Intellectual Property and IT in private practice.

As General Counsel, Pita has helped to guide QBE through significant business growth and transformation. Having held responsibility for compliance, financial crime, dispute resolution, technical training and professional indemnity claims, in addition to leading the legal team, Pita has a broad view of our business’ operations.