Insurance is a system to alleviate financial losses by transferring risk of loss from one entity to another.

The entity, which may be an individual or association of any type, including a government or government agency, that is transferring the risk is called the "insured". The entity accepting the risk is called the "insurer". The agreement between the two by which the risk is transfered is called the "policy". The policy is a legal contract that sets out exactly the terms and conditions of the coverage. The fee paid by the insured to the insurer for assuming the risk is called the "premium". The premium is usually determined by the insurer to fund estimated future claims paid, administrative costs, and profit.

As the population ages and wealth grows, the demand for insurance professionals will increase dramatically. This is great news for you if your thinking of going in to insurance. Jobs in insurance involve helping individuals and business manage risk to protect themselve s from catastrophic losses and to anticipate potential risk problems.

Work in this area is not only personally rewarding, but can be financially rewarding as well. You will help clients understand their insurance needs, explain their options to them and hopefully help them purchase appropriate insurance policies. You could work in a variety of areas in insurance including as an underwriter, a sales representative, an asset manager, a customer service rep or an actuary. A theme that is constantly emphasiz ed by insurance professionals is that the industry is ultimately about helping people when they need it the most. The stereotype of a slick, sleazy, fast-talking insurance salesman is largely a figment of the past.

Main areas of work in insurance career

A person interested in working inthe field of insurance can either
work in the capacity of:

An office in one of the areas of insurance (life, general and postal).
An agent.
An insurance surveyor.
The work of an actuary (one who works in insurance field) involves
the calculation of insurance risk, premiums and pension programmes.
Actuarial science is build on the statistical evaluation of the financial and economic implications of possible congingencies.

In an insurance company person can take a job in and as:

Administration - deals with the registry of claims.
Development - deals with marketing and procurement of business etc.
Accounts - deals with the management of funds and their disbursement.
Investment - responsible for the investment of funds of insurance company.

Entry & eligibility for insurance career

A person who wants to be an actuary has to pass an entrance exam
conducted by the Actuarial Society of India.
However, recruitment to the Postal Life Insurance takes place according to the recruitment rules of the postal department.

To be an insurance surveyor, a person needs to hold a licence.

Private insurance firms take in management graduates to work mainly in the areas of marketing and sales.
The eligibility criterion for recruitment to both the LIC and GIC is the same. An AAO (Assistant Administrative Officer (class I officer) must be a graduate/postgraduate in any subject with minimum of 50 percent marks, from a recognized university. The candidate's age should be between twenty-one and twenty-eight years. AAO's recruitment exam is an all India level exam. To be recruited as a clas II officer, the candidate has to be a graduate in any descipline. Class III and class IV levels are open to graduates and school-leavers.
An insurance surveyor, to be eligible to hold a licence, must fulfil
one of the following qualifications:
Fellowship of associateship through the exam held by the Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters (IISA), Mumbai. Degree or diploma in architecture from a recognized university.
Fellowship or associateship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Institute of Cost and works Accountants.
Degree of diploma from a recognized engineering institute.
Degree or diploma in naval architecture.
Actuarila Science & Insurance Institutions
Actuarial Science is mainly offered as a three year degree course by some universities, or as one of the subjects of a degree programme.
There are also short term courses in insurance or actuarial science, ranging from six months to two years. The Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai also grooms insurance personnel for a career in the LIC. The highest qualification for a career in insurance is that of a Fellow of the Institute of Insurance, London. This requries a licentiate in insurance, for which three papers have to be cleared, followed by eight papers for an associateship, and further four papers to qualify for the fellowship. The training imparts skills in
the science of assumptions and probabilities, and fine tunes arithmetical and mathematical faculties.

Insurance Colleges in Andhra Pradesh
Insurance Colleges in Delhi
Insurance Colleges in Goa
Insurance Colleges in Haryana
Insurance Colleges in Maharashtra
Insurance Colleges in Manipur
Insurance Colleges in Orissa
Insurance Colleges in Punjab
Insurance Colleges in Tamil Nadu
Insurance Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
Insurance Colleges in West Bengal

Job Prospects in Insurance Companies in India
There are plenty of jobs in the insurance sector today, in both government and private sectors. In fact, the estimated requirement for trained professionals is expected to be mroe than 30,000 over the next two to threee years. Groth in the insurance profession depends totally on the individual.

Remuneration in Insurance Career
In government sector, the pay scale of the officers in the insurance sector as given by the government of India is in the range of Rs 3000-Rs 8000 for development officers and go upto Rs 14,000-16,000
for zonal managers. Along the basic pay given above, allowances amount is about more than 200 percent of the basic pay. In private sector, starting salaries are in th range of Rs 6000 to Rs 9000 per month, where management graduates can start with Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month

With private players coming into the insurance sector, new and innovative products and better customer service is expected. And with this, several new job opportunities too
The liberalisation of the Indian insurance sector has opened new doors to private competition and the new and improved insurance sector today promises several new job opportunities. With private players now in the field, there will be innovative products, better packaging, improved customer service, and, most importantly, greater employment opportunities.

There are a number of options to choose from for a career in Insurance. Ideally an insurance company will have openings in the marketing, distribution, actuarial, underwriting, operations and investing departments. Though some jobs like investing, marketing and distribution are the same in any other industry, actuarial and underwriting jobs are exclusive to the insurance industry
Actuaries
Underwriter
Surveyor
Investment
Marketing & Distribution
CAREER OPTIONS
Actuary
Evaluates the risk for companies to be used for strategic management decisions.
Actuaries use their analytical skills to predict the risk of writing insurance policies through the use of mathematical, statistical and economic models.
An actuary not only fixes the premium rates for new products, but also revises both products and prices. They calculate costs to assume risk, for example how much to charge policyholders for life or health insurance premiums?






Nov-15-2002


10-57 Building careers in insurance


With private players coming into the insurance sector, new and innovative products and better customer service is expected. And with this, several new job opportunities too.

The liberalisation of the Indian insurance sector has opened new doors to private competition and the new and improved insurance sector today promises several new job opportunities. With private players now in the field, there will be innovative products, better packaging, improved customer service, and, most importantly, greater employment opportunities.

There are a number of options to choose from for a career in Insurance. Ideally an insurance company will have openings in the marketing, distribution, actuarial, underwriting, operations and investing departments. Though some jobs like investing, marketing and distribution are the same in any other industry, actuarial and underwriting jobs are exclusive to the insurance industry.

Actuaries
Underwriter
Surveyor
Investment
Marketing & Distribution
CNBC India spoke to Sehwag Gidwani, Secretary General of Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai on the different career options available in the insurance industry. Excerpts from the conversation.


Discussing the options, potentials, strength and career as an actuary, he said, “There is a tremendous potential for an actuary not only in India but also worldwide, given that, the regulations now prescribe that every company must have an appointed actuary. The actuary, basically is a mathematician, statistician, who works out the premium rates, the product design, and infact, he decides on the solvency margin of insurance companies. We have an Actuarial Society of India in Bombay which conducts these professional examinations and currently, more than 1200 members are pursuing this education.”

CAREER OPTIONS

Actuary

Evaluates the risk for companies to be used for strategic management decisions.
Actuaries use their analytical skills to predict the risk of writing insurance policies through the use of mathematical, statistical and economic models.
An actuary not only fixes the premium rates for new products, but also revises both products and prices. They calculate costs to assume risk, for example how much to charge policyholders for life or health insurance premiums?
Course

The actuarial course involves basic techniques, communication, advanced techniques in actuarial science, finance, life and general insurance.
Commenting on the demand potential and the likely remuneration for an actuary in the industry, Gidwani said, “The Actuary belongs to the top management team thus the compensations are very attractive for example in U.S., the salary will be more that 80000 US dollars per annum. The field is not only relevant to insurance industry but to the whole financial sector. So I visualize a very bright future and good demand because they will be not only for product development, product designing but also deciding on the solvency margin premium rates. Without an actuary, an insurance company cannot function.”

Speaking on the number of years experience that is really required to get the right break as an actuary, he said, ”The candidates opting for a career as an actuary must have a strong mathematical background, statistical background and it can take minimum two to nine years depending upon the kind of studies conducted by the candidate. Usually, it is found that, people who join the insurance industry pursue these careers.”

Who can qualify --

Mathematics and Statistics graduates can try the actuarial course.
The eligibility requirement is higher secondary education.

Elucidating the prospects of a career as an underwriter or a surveyor he said, “An underwriter basically decides whether to grant insurance and if so, on what terms and conditions. His role is to assess the risk and determine at what premium we should charge him and whether to give him insurance at all. Thus the role of the underwriter is a unique operation in insurance companies.”


Underwriters

Work Profile –

Insurance underwriters review insurance applications and decide whether they should be accepted or rejected based on the degree of risks involved in insuring the people or objects of concern.
In the life insurance business, an underwriter is expected to filter the "bad or substandard lives". Whereas, in the general insurance segment, he takes care of risk management .
Underwriters give and obtain information, explain policies and quote rates to medical personnel, other insurance companies, or field representatives.
Adding further he said, “The surveyor on the other side usually functions only in non life business and not in life insurance business. The surveyor’s role is to assess the loss that has been notified by the customer, suppose a car meets with an accident, the policyholder will lodge a claim with the company for compensation. The surveyor will then go and assess the extent of loss. The insurance business operates on the principle of indemnity, that is, putting the customer in same position financially in which he was before the loss happened. As there is a tendency on the part of customer, to benefit out of an insurance transaction, the surveyor puts a check on that and assesses the loss. He then gives a report to the insurance company and based on the surveyor’s report the company will settle the claim.”


Surveyors

Work Profile –

Surveyors are professionals who assess the loss or damage and serve as a link between the insurer and the insured.
They usually function only in non life business.
Their job is to assess the actual loss and avoid false claims.
Surveyors like agents, are not employees but are independent professionals hired by the insurance company.
Regarding the minimum qualification require for pursuing the career of an underwriter or a surveyor, Gidwani said, “There are specific regulations governing the profession of surveyors, they should have an engineering degree or insurance qualifications. They have to undergo a one-year training program with an existing surveyors firm and at the end of that they have to pass another examination which will be done by Insurance Institute of India.”

Who can qualify –

An insurance surveyor must possess a license issued by the Controller of Insurance under Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.
Licenses are issued to technically qualified people who are engineering graduates or diploma holders in any discipline, Chartered Accountants, Graduates in Medical Sciences.
They have to undergo a one-year training program with an existing surveyors firm and thereafter pass an exam held by the Insurance Institute of India.
A surveyor after obtaining the license may be empanelled by any or all of the insurance companies.
Commenting on the need of investment managers who look at the assets of the insurance company he said, “Investment operations of insurance company is a very old function, given that insurance business is 300 years old and because an insurance company collects a lot of funds, they need to be invested wisely without jeopardizing public security. Thus, there is a good potential for a career in this field. And every company has a few investment experts who will guide the operations, most of which may done by asset management companies.”

Speaking on a career in marketing and distribution, Gidwani said, “In the marketing area the potential is unlimited. The insurance business in India is yet to grow upto international standards. And, between the last 18 months more than 4,00,000 people have enrolled as agents. Since there are a large number of agents you need marketing managers, agency managers to guide, motivate and supervise them and worldwide this trend is discernable. More and more people are needed in marketing because it brings money for the company.”

Marketing & Distribution

Insurance agents may work for one insurance company or as independent agents selling for several companies.
Insurance brokers do not sell for a particular company, but place insurance policies for their clients with the company that offers the best rate and coverage.
Insurance agents and brokers can find openings in the health insurance sector, financial planning services, retirement planning counselling or even provide other services, for example sell mutual funds, annuities and other securities.
Lastly, briefing on other career options that can be available in the insurance industry, he said, “The other options are in health management as third party administrators, as well as back office processing as IT industry does for information technology i.e operations of other insurance companies worldwide could also be done in India. There are frauds in insurance, insurance investigation could be another choice for occupation, and call centers are also becoming a big business for marketing of insurance products, so that too could be an innovative career in the insurance industry.

Learning Grounds

Insurance Institute of India
National Insurance Academy, Pune
Actuarial Society of India