QBE boss Pat Regan offers to take $420,000 cut in bonus

QBE chief Pat Regan has offered to take a 25pc cut in his bonus after a big loss for the insurer, and shareholder grumbles.

QBE boss Pat Regan “volunteered” to take a cut in his bonus. Pic: Britta Campion

QBE chief executive Pat Regan has offered to take a $421,000 cut in his 2018 bonus after the insurer posted a big loss, and following complaints by some shareholders.

QBE said Mr Regan volunteered the 25 per cent cut in the number of conditional rights proposed to be granted to him under the company’s executive remuneration plan for 2017.

“This means that if resolution 3 is passed by shareholders, the company will instead grant 122,537 conditional rights to Mr Regan, with an initial value of $1,263,356,” QBE told the ASX.

While the board believed Mr Regan’s 2017 bonus was “fair and appropriate” and a substantial number of shareholders concurred, a number of shareholders “expressed reservations” about the size of the award in the context of the group’s 2017 results, the company said.

In February, QBE unveiled a full-year loss of $US1.25 billion, which was largely foreshadowed after another profit warning in January. Following the prior year’s $US844m annual profit, the 2017 loss came with a hefty cut in the insurer’s dividend payout.

Formerly QBE’s chief financial officer, Mr Regan was appointed CEO of the $14 billion global insurer in September and took over the reins in January from former chief executive John Neal.

His appointment followed a boardroom scandal and a surprise profit downgrade last year — one in a string of disappointments from the diversified behemoth after decades of questionable acquisitions.

QBE shares briefly rose from $10.05 to $10.15 after today’s announcement.

The insurer announced in February it is selling its troublesome operations across Latin America to Swiss giant Zurich Insurance.