4 questions lodged at 2026 QBE hybrid AGM
May 10, 2026
Below is the text of the 4 written questions submitted at the 91 minute QBE Insurance (QBE) hybrid AGM held at Sydney's Wesley Centre and via the Computershare platform on May 8, 2026. There was some unnecessary editing and shortening by the question wrangler. See notice of meeting. There were 3 hostile climate resolutions. Market cap $33.8b on AGM day. See text of 4 questions submitted at 97 minute meeting last year when the only protest was 30% against re-election of Yasmin Allen, who became chair at the end of this AGM. The proxies were not disclosed early in these formal addresses and biggest protest vote was 13% against the CEO's LTI grant, plus 10.8% supporting one of the hostile climate resolutions.
Q1. Congratulations to Yasmin Allen on being elected by her colleagues as chair. Who ran the process and was there a competitive vote within the board? At one level it was surprising that Yasmin was selected after there was a 30% vote against her re-election at last year's AGM. What was last year's protest vote about and were any of the major protesting shareholders and proxy advisers consulted about her elevation to chair? Finally, could Yasmin please publicly commit to retain the hybrid AGM at QBE under her chairmanship, something that didn't happen at Santos during her final 3 years on that board?
Answer: Yasmin Allen committed to continuing with hybrid AGMs going forward. Mike Wilkins provided no explanation of the 30% protest vote she suffered last year and said they did look outside for a chair but leading internal candidate Yasmin was their unanimous choice, although he had no involvement in the process, which was an interesting disclosure. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. It would have been better if the proxies were disclosed early to the ASX along with the formal addresses rather than just being briefly flashed up at the start of the meeting ahead of this single job lot debate on all resolutions at once. Let's hope Yasmin changes the format and follows the agenda next year. The proxy votes slide revealed the biggest protest against the board's recommendations was a 13% vote against the CEO's LTI grant. What was this issue and could CEO Andrew Horton also please summarise his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed. Has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on an incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company? Please don't say look it up in the annual report and through ASX announcements. It's complicated and the CEO could factually summarise the situation in 60 seconds.
Answer: Out-going QBE chair Mike Wilkins is the best insurance CEO and chair Australia has produced, which explains why he's had 6 separate chair or CEO gigs in the industry, a record for any industry. However, like an insurance claims processor, he also loves to say “no”, as he did on this CEO LTI question, instead pointing to page 67 of the annual report. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. Thank you to Mike Wilkins and Kathy Lissen for their long years of services to this board and the excellent shape they have left QBE in. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors and chairs. In their final contributions as QBE directors, could Mike and Kathy please both comment on what they regard as the best 2 decisions made during their tenure and, if they had their time again, what would they have done differently?
Answer: This was one of the most insightful answers I've had to this standard exit reflections question for retiring directors. Both QBE chair Mike Wilkins and 10 year US-based director Kathy Lisson said they wished they'd moved faster on culture reforms. Kathy also mentioned portfolio rebalancing and hiring their excellent CEO, Andrew Horton. Certainly agree with that. He's done very well. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q4. I remain puzzled why Australian boards are so opposed to the concept of shareholders putting up opinion-based non-binding resolutions, as has been occurring in the US for more than 40 years. There was a 10.8% vote in favour of one of the climate resolutions today, suggesting that some of your shareholders and perhaps one of the proxy advisers recommended a vote in favour. Did any of the proxy advisers recommend against the board's recommendation on any resolutions today, including the climate resolutions? Also, when disclosing the outcome of the poll to the ASX, will you also included the head count data so we can see how many of our 67,782 shareholders (see page 75 of annual report) participated in today's vote. The likes of Myer, Tabcorp, Suncorp, Stockland, ASX, Qantas and even our own share registry provider Computershare all provide this additional voluntary disclosure, showing respect for their retail shareholders.
Answer: No insight from QBE chair Mike Wilkins on what or who delivered the 10.8% voting support for one of the hostile climate change shareholder resolutions today and, as usual, he rejected the request to disclose how many of its 67,782 shareholders voted for and against each resolution. Let's hope Yasmin sees the light next year and gets QBE onto this best practice list. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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