Insurance Industry- Job opportunities, trends and professional associations

Insurance Industry- Job opportunities, trends and professional associations

Insurance Industry- What jobs are available? • Agent/Broker • Actuary • Service Representative • Claims Adjuster • Risk Manager • Underwriter • Cost Containment Specialist • Loss Control Specialist

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Agent/Broker • Advise people and organizations on how to protect things • This person is the first contact after an accident, fire or injury • What is required for this job? • Strong communication skills, organizational skills; insurance licensing exam (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Actuary • Predicts the risk of writing insurance policies on property, businesses, people’s lives and wealth • Use statistical and mathematical analysis to determine cost of providing coverage • An actuary estimates amount of future loss (calculations) to determine cost of insurance paid by policyholder. (Fitch, 2002) • What is required for this job? • Degree focused in mathematics or statistics • Analytical and organizational skills in solving problems; strong communication skills in presenting to non-actuaries (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Service Representative • Deals directly with customers; works closely with agents, brokers, claims adjusters and underwriters to make sure customers’ interests are served What is required of the job? • State licenses, certifications for customer service (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Claims Adjuster • Directly involved with people that have experienced a loss; acts on behalf of insurance company • Adjusters can be in-house (focus on reviewing claims reported) or directly working in the field at sites • What is required of the job? • Ability to interpret and analyze factual information; ability to work under pressure; working in technical claims: background in engineering, biology or medical science. (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Risk Manager (Loss Control Specialist) • Develop and implement safety programs for minimizing accidents; evaluate work environments; identify hazards and make recommendations for eliminating potential risks • Risk Managers work to protect general public and environment from injury or illness • What is required for this job? • 4 year degree with background in engineering or science; experience analyzing commercial and industrial sites for fire hazards and environmental risks; knowledge of OSHA, federal and state laws, and Americans with Disabilities Act (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Underwriter • Determines acceptability of insurance risks, based on insurance company’s guidelines and marketing strategy • Reviews agent’s application submitted on behalf of client • Determines the cost of insurance (the premium) by analyzing the claims experience of the policy holder and the book rates computed by the actuary • What is required of this job? Strong skills working with databases and spreadsheet management (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Cost Containment Specialist • Consultant who helps employers manage their group health insurance plans and looks for way to reduce health care costs • Contact hospitals, health maintenance organizations and physicians to negotiate for healthcare services at the best competitive rate • Recommend and implement cost containment measures such as employee counseling, random drug testing and voluntary prescreening for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. • Typically employed by health-care consulting firms, independent insurance agencies and insurance companies • What is required for the job? 4 year degree, a graduate degree in healthcare administration is also helpful (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What do these jobs do? Loss Control Specialist • Goal of job is to work to prevent injury or illness of workforce (both public and environment) • Works with business executives of large firms, public institutions and city planners to identify and correct potentially harmful situations • Job requires technical knowledge and management ability • Helps insurer organizations or those who are seeking insurance coverage to identify risks and reduce the possibility of accidents, fires, and other losses • Studies materials, structures, building and safety codes and operations/procedures to find the best way to use resources that may cause accidental events • What does this job require? 4 year degree- focus in engineering or sciences (Fitch, 2002)

Insurance Industry- What are the current trends? • Current hiring practices • Women have increasingly become the focus of hiring practices due to their role in decision making in households (Tahmincioglu, 2004) • Most analysts expect the demand for insurance to rise as risks become more complex and abundant in the economy. The growth in the industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to be within 20 to 40 percent over the next fifteen years. (http://www.careers-in-finance.com/infacts.htm)

Insurance Industry- What are the current trends? • Current hiring practices continued • The aging of the population has been dramatically increasing the demand for health insurance. Despite recent regulatory reexamination, the health insurance business is likely to see tremendous future growth, even if health care reform takes place. (http://www.careers-in-finance.com/infacts.htm)

Insurance Industry- Companies • Some companies that focus on insurance and other financial services • AIG http://www.aig.com/gateway/home • The Hartford http://thehartford.com/ • Massachusetts Mutual http://www.massmutual.com/mmfg/index.html • St. Paul Travelers http://www.stpaultravelers.com/ • GE Financial https://gefinancial.com/ • Metropolitan Life http://www.metlife.com/ • Prudential Financial http://www.prudential.com/index/

Insurance Industry (Life Insurance)- What are the current trends? • Industry Profile • Roughly 1000 life insurance companies operating in the United States in 2003 • The three largest life insurance groups are: Metropolitan Life, AIG Life, and Prudential

Insurance Industry (Life Insurance)- What are the current trends? • New Scrutiny for Insurance companies • Sarbanes-Oxly Act of 2002 passed in the wake of Enron and Worldcom accounting scandals placed new and costly internal financial controls and compliance requirements on publicly held companies • Terrorism Risk Insurance Act- set to expire in December 2005, provides federal property and casualty reinsurance for future terrorist events • 2004-new GAAP accounting standard adopted with provisions affecting variable annuity and life insurance writers

Insurance Industry (Life Insurance)- What are the current trends? • What do life insurance companies provide for consumers? • In the past: only financial remuneration in event of policy holders death • Today: array of financial services and services in people financial planning in areas such as tax, retirement, estate and long term care.

Insurance Industry (Property/Casualty Insurance)- What are the current trends? • Industry Profile: • US property-casualty industry consists of thousands of companies, but is dominated by a small group of companies • Top 5: State Farm, AIG, Allstate, Zurich/Farmers Group, Berkshire Hathaway

Insurance Industry (Property/Casualty Insurance)- What are the current trends? • Recent trends: • Lapse in large-scale merger and acquisition activity • Probable fallout from the attorney-general investigations into certain industry marketing practices

Insurance Industry (Property/Casualty Insurance)- What are the current trends? • How the industry operates • Essentially a risk-bearing enterprise • Typical policies include: auto coverage, workers compensation coverage, homeowners coverage • Two types of structures: mutual and stock • Mutual: owned by policyholders and capital is called policyholders surplus (ex: State Farm Group, largest of this type) • Stock: shareholders are issued stock as evidence of their ownership and interest which is represented by shareholders equity

Insurance Industry- Professional Associations • Below are some of the professional associations • Alliance of American Insurers • American Academy of Actuaries • American Insurance Association • Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals • National Association of Independent Insurers • National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors • National Association of Insurance Women • National Association of Professional Insurers • Society of Actuaries (http://www.insurancejobchannel.com/profassc2_new.cfm)

Insurance Industry- References • Burand, C. (2004). Good hiring, training practices yield top-notch CSRs. American Agent and Broker, 76, 10-11. • Fitch, T. (2002). Career opportunities in banking, finance and insurance. New York: Facts on File, Incorporated. • Tahmincioglu, E. (2004). When women rise. Workforce Management, 83, 26-32. • Insurance: Facts and trends. Careers in Finance. Retrieved March 15, 2005, from http://www.careers-in-finance.com/infacts.htm • Insurancejobchannel. Retrieved March 21, 2005 from http://www.insurancejobchannel.com/profassc2_new.cfm)

Insurance Industry- Job opportunities, trends and professional associations