QBE boss John Neal was probably hoping for a quiet little cup of tea with shareholders on Wednesday, free of the acrimony associated with his early years in the job which were blighted by a string of profit downgrades.
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Alas, the room temperature may get a little heated as the insurer battles activists over its rather prosperous association with the coal industry.
Investment activist group Market Forces launched its QBE campaign on Monday, calling on the insurance company to stop "making climate change possible". This is rather important given the impact that extreme weather events is having on QBE's bottom line.
"Last month, QBE Group CEO John Neal called on the insurance industry to do more to combat climate change, yet his own company continues to be one of the key pillars supporting the fossil fuel industry," said Dan Gocher from Market Forces. Gocher just happens to be a former analyst at QBE.
And how does Market Forces get away with such an outlandish claim?
Oh yes, there is that QBE annual report from 2012 with the cover page featuring a monstrous open cut coal mine with the words: Made possible by QBE.
"QBE is a major insurer of the mining sector, from leading global players to specialist service providers and small operations," it proudly boasted on the cover of its report just as coal prices were heading down the toilet.
Still, CBD is sure the whole thing was just a homage to Roger Massy-Greene, the husband of QBE's chairman at the time, Belinda Hutchison. He made a motza in the coal boom didn't he?
At least Neal is saying the right thing, as demonstrated by his post to LinkedIn last month: "To me 1) climate change is real, 2) it is posing a serious threat to our environment."
Great stuff John. All we need now is some action.
Sky high
Details have slowly made their way across the ditch of Nigel Morrison's last week at SkyCity Entertainment Group – the casino operator we don't care about because its main operations are in Auckland and Darwin.
Morrison enjoyed a quiet send-off in Auckland last Thursday at SkyCity's twentyone bar.
The Rolling Stones theme to the party was not a hint that he is planning to hit the road with his favourite band. Apparently Morrison plans to pick up a paint brush and easel – following in the footsteps of his dad and grandfather.
He might be able to afford some paint as well. His final director's interest notice was released this week with the news that another 979,000 shares vested, which means he walked out the door with 1.92 million shares with a street value of $8.8 million.
That will help salve the nasty rumours that his sudden departure after eight years at the helm was due to a bust-up with his board.
"It is 24 hours a day, it is 365 days a year, and in all my three jurisdictions [there are] different time zones, different media, different governments, different opposition, different regulators," said Morrison when the rumours started circulating last month.
"So it is a very, very challenging role. an all consuming role ... And quite frankly, at 57, there are other things I would like to do."
Wipeout
CBD has fond memories of the days we spent dealing with an ambitious young telco analyst by the name of Justin Cameron.
This was a few years before he headed off to start up an online surfwear business in his garage, which became SurfStitch.
The bad news is SurfStitch is re-enacting the implosion of its one-time investor, Billabong, with a series of profit downgrades.
This includes Tuesday's wipeout which has left the stock trading at less than half of its December 2014 IPO price of $1.
It should make Cameron's plans to reprivatise the company a bit easier. That's if you overlook the small problem of convincing investors to part with shares that were worth $2 late last year and are now trading below 50c.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
