Not quite sure I fully share that view, the new CEO seems the...

Not quite sure I fully share that view, the new CEO seems the cautious type to me (thank goodness!) who will be keen to not pay out too strongly.

You could say that given that unlike his 2 predecessors in the big seat at Qbe, he's been able to keep it in his pants for this long. Concentrating on the big issues at hand and being cautious in a uniquely confounding market has payed benefits for QBE and I'm optimistic that this 1+ year of share price consolidation will start to show some xmas cheer to the upside.

While the outlook for the big American insurers is looking dire, the skeletons of the American experience have largely been expunged from the QBE books and this is increasingly looking like the pick of the Oz market - IAG, suncorp etc.