Tuesday: More big moves to come?

The annual results season threw up another shock this morning when, alongside its full-year numbers, Australian insurer QBE announced that its longstanding chief executive Frank O’Halloran is retiring.

O’Halloran has been at QBE’s helm for 14 years and has steered the company through some difficult times, both domestically and internationally. Today, though, the group’s numbers are looking healthy: it reported a profit after tax of US$704m (£480m) in 2011, although this represented a 45% drop from the US$1.3bn it made in 2010.

O’Halloran has also had to oversee plenty of change in the London-based European business, which has gone through several restructures in recent years but is now settling down under the guidance of rising stars such as Ash Bathia. And who could forget that ambitious A$8.7bn takeover attempt of Aussie rival IAG in 2008, which was eventually rejected?

Replacing the irreplaceable

The market may not have been have expecting O’Halloran’s departure just yet, but it does come during a spate of high-profile departures. Yesterday Hiscox announced its chairman of more than 40 years, Robert Hiscox, was stepping down, and earlier this month it was reported that Willis group chief executive Joe Plumeri is expected to wave goodbye when his contract with the global broking giant expires in 2013.

The industry is losing some of its biggest characters, and these firms will struggle to find replacements with the kind of enthusiasm and commitment that held these guys in place for so long. The industry can only hope that the production line can manufacture a new batch of talented leaders with similar characteristics.

And with some large insurers and brokers, including Aviva, still to report their annual results, could there be more surprises still to come?