spp scaled back, page-6

The terms of the SPP are a disgrace. Below is a copy of an email I have just sent to the company secretary. If you feel the same please email him on [email protected]

Dear Duncan,

We are extremely dissatisfied with the way in which the SPP has been handled by QBE, particularly with respect of the treatment of loyal small shareholders.

The company was quite happy to "give away" 2 billion dollars worth of discounted stock to institutions, many of which I presume were not previously loyal shareholders. However, when it comes to offering stock to loyal small shareholders, the company can only see fit to offer $123 million in stock. Furthermore, the decision to scale back on the basis of the number of shares held at the record date is a real kick in the face to small shareholders. We assume, small shareholders such as ourselves will now only receive a tiny fraction of the $5000 we have invested.

Rather than a SPP, it appears this has become a defacto rights issue. This should have been made clear at the outset. This has cost small shareholders dearly. Not only have you had possession of our $5,000 for the last month with no interest to be paid, we have suffered a significant opportunity cost with the market having risen substantially since the offer was announced. Had we known this was actually to be a defacto rights issue, we would have been much better off using our available funds to purchase stock on the market for around $21.50 rather than the current $26.

We respectfully request that in light of the above, that the company reconsiders the terms of the SPP or alternatively provides small shareholders with compensation for being treated so poorly.