Cynthia Oard appointed to lead new specialty healthcare practice

NEW YORK, NY– QBE North America, an operating division of QBE Group, today announced the appointment of Cynthia Oard, to Senior Vice President, Underwriting Leader – Healthcare. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Ms. Oard will report to Specialty Insurance President Jeffrey S. Grange.

In this capacity, Ms. Oard will spearhead the creation of a market-leading Healthcare business for QBE in North America. She will set the underwriting strategy across all major Healthcare segments including Hospitals, Physicians, Aging & Assisted Living, Allied Health and Managed Care. Ms. Oard, in partnership with QBE's Regional Executives, will develop our Healthcare franchise on a national basis and across all distribution channels. Her team will build a portfolio of primary and proprietary products including Medical Malpractice, Managed Care Errors & Omissions, Miscellaneous Healthcare Professional Liability, Directors & Officers Liability for Healthcare, Employment Practices Liability for Healthcare, Cyber for Healthcare, Fiduciary Liability for Healthcare and Crime for Healthcare providers. These coverages will further expand The Solution, QBE's market-leading suite of innovative policies delivered with concise, direct and easy-to-read policy language.

"We're pleased to have Cynthia join our leadership team at QBE," said Mr. Grange. "A market-leading healthcare underwriting leader with a strong track record of underwriting profitability, Cindy is a proven Healthcare executive with a national following with our key distribution partners across all channels and with Healthcare customers."

"Cynthia's appointment signals QBE North America's entry into the Healthcare space. Cynthia is the right leader to build another solid and talented underwriting team focused on delivering innovative, creative and relevant solutions to our Healthcare customers and our producer partners. Cindy and team will launch another strong and profitable specialty insurance franchise in early 2017," added Mr. Grange.

With a track record of success, Ms. Oard has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience, primarily in the highly specialized healthcare production and underwriting arena. She joins QBE from Allied World Assurance, where she served as Senior Vice President – Healthcare Practice Lead. In this role, Ms. Oard led the new product development, production, distribution and staffing for the Medical Malpractice and Healthcare Management Liability, including Hospital Professional Liability, Miscellaneous Facilities Malpractice, Long Term Care, Healthcare Directors & Officers Liability, EPLI, Fiduciary, Fidelity, Kidnap and Ransom and Managed Care Errors & Omissions lines of business, and she was responsible for growing the Healthcare industry vertical to a $207 million division. Prior to joining Allied World Assurance, Ms. Oard held senior healthcare underwriting and leadership positions with Darwin Professional Underwriters, Chubb, and Executive Risk. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management from DePaul University, Chicago.

QBE Specialty underwrites risks and provides exemplary coverage and services to support the specialized needs of customers across a wide variety of segments and industry sectors. These include Accident & Health, Aviation, Cyber, Inland Marine, Financial Institutions, Healthcare, Management Liability & Professional Lines, Transactional Liability, Media & Entertainment, Trade Credit, and Surety, for appointed retail and wholesale producers.

About QBE
QBE North America is part of QBE Insurance Group Limited, one of the largest insurers and reinsurers worldwide. QBE NA reported Gross Written Premiums in 2015 of $4.6 billion. QBE Insurance Group's 2015 results can be found at www.qbe.com/us. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, QBE operates out of 43 countries around the globe, with a presence in every key insurance market. The North America division, headquartered in New York, conducts business through its property and casualty insurance subsidiaries. QBE insurance companies are rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best and "A+" by Standard & Poor's. Additional information can be found at www.qbe.com/us, or follow QBE North America on Twitter.

Contact
Carla Ferrara, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Branding, 212.497.9604, Carla.ferrara@us.qbe.com