Investments in an insurer

[AAA]

Hi all,

Just wondering what kind of front office opportunities we may get in an insurer to manage such a pool of assets; obviously, insurance companies look lik a big player in the buy side, so why nobody has ever pointed out what +/- it implies?

I guess bonuses are not going through the floor over there but job security and pure investment management stuff is a meaningful plus. The only concern in my case is that I thinkg they work 80% with fixed income products, which doesn�t sound so fancy, but I can live with it

Any comments?

"Luck does not exist, but merely likelihoods"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 05:02PM by AAA.

 

[purealpha]

If I understand your question correctly, most insurance companies have fixed income portfolio full of corps, treasuries, mbs, cmo, abs, etc. FI dominates...like 90+%. They hold maybe 1-5% equities which may income some hedge funds.

Most the of places I know outsource the investment management to Blackrock, Deutsche, or a small firm they have some special connection with. FI is actually much more fancier...probably pays better too, I think the CFA compensation survey covers this.

They like PMs who understand their liabilities, which means CFA+actuary makes you a god. Also there is a lot of compliance crap since you need to deal with NAIC compliance.

 

[AAA]

Thanks purealpha, I read you are working at an insurer in some thread, aren�t you?

So, you confirm my guess; the CFA survey states that they pay the biggest fixed salary though though the bonus makes you worse off vs. other employers... On the other hand, job security and hours will probably make up the difference a bit.

http://www.cfainstitute.org/aboutus/press/survey/pdf/CompSurveyUK.pdf

The point is that I might end up joining a grad program for a major European insurer in the investment area; they have an in house asset management house and I�d rotate through several depts. to finally join the one I supposed to fit. What kind of departments can be interesting?

BTW, I�m graduating in an actuarial program and taking LII in ... a couple of days! I�m probably a bit naive if I follow the IB herd instead of this kind of opportunities?

Cheers

"Luck does not exist, but merely likelihoods"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:03AM by AAA.