QBE will take a global perspective on covering the fast-growing data centres sector and has introduced a new role to oversee an integrated approach.

The insurer has appointed London-based Jamie Thompson – who previously led QBE’s financial lines team for international markets – as global director of data centres.

“Coverage gaps are emerging and the complex and interconnected risks associated with data centres will need sophisticated solutions,” Mr Thompson said this week.

“To provide a globally consistent approach, we will develop a proposition incorporating multiple products, looking at the complete data life cycle and broader risk landscape for businesses and communities.”

QBE says data centre capacity is expected to double globally between this year and 2030, driven by cloud migration and artificial intelligence usage.

The growth is expected to involve nearly 100 gigawatts of power being added, and an infrastructure investment surge will require up to $US3 trillion ($4.2 trillion) by 2030.

Group CEO Andrew Horton announced Mr Thompson’s appointment at the annual results briefing last Friday, noting the company will take a careful approach as it seeks business.

“These are not risk-free entities,” Mr Horton told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “The scale that people are talking about in terms of quantity of them and size of them is something the industry may not have seen before.”

Mr Horton told a half-year results briefing that an industry narrative surrounding growth is overly focused on softening premium rates.

“We think this overlooks three important factors,” he said. “Rate adequacy is attractive across the vast majority of lines; a portfolio as diverse as ours is operating across multiple product and market cycles simultaneously; and there are structural growth opportunities across sectors, including infrastructure, cyber facilities, data centres and energy.”

QBE has reduced its exposure to standalone property in recent years, with prices in the global market dropping after strong gains.

Mr Horton says the pace of decline is likely to slow as the market nears a point where greater easing would take rates below adequacy. But ultimately, loss levels will be the key driver.

“There’s definitely more talk about, how much further can it go?” he said. “I believe it will slow down. The major thing that’s going to reverse it, though, is having more major claims against the business.”