Just curious what types of jobs people were working at in large insurance companies that related to the CFA Thanks
CEO…I’m really hoping to go on my first Junket soon.
insurance is all about actuaries and they look down upon CFAs just like CFAs look down upon actuaries. at least accountants do. The fastest track to the top positions in insurance companies is via taking actuarial exams. insuarnce is VERY EXTREMELY boring!
Many insurance companies have investment management divisions
that’s what i was more interested in Red’s Cigar
I work for an insurance company’s corporate development department - mostly we look into to M&A and other growth investment opportunities (almost always “vertical” in nature). I work a bit with treasury (they manage the investment portfolio) helping them build some analytical models. But for the most part we use a external firms to select our fund managers, industry exposure, etc. There are a lot of restrictions on insurance investments, and we have to invest primarily in low risk fixed income securities.
Basically you either work in the asset management area (which is largely low risk fixed income and often outsourced) or find something in Strategic planning/M&A. I’ve done both and it is largely boring and the meetings with actuaries will make you want to claw your eyes out! 
Also it is a mature industry and they can’t pay much. That said I found all the asset/liability risk management stuff interesting and met some very cool people who happen to be actuaries! If for some reason you spring wood over the idea of trying to match the duration of the liabilities to the bonds you could go work for Deutsche or someone who manages a bunch of insurance portfolios.
the boring ones
I work at an insurance company in an oversight role of variable annuity funds. There’s 7 of us that “oversee” 80 portfolios totaling ~65bil as of the end of 08. We don’t use a consultant to select managers (although we do have a consulting relationship to build our asset allocation portfolios). We sort of act like consultants in the sense we do all the interviews and selection of our subadvisers. We monitor the managers currently in our deck pretty vigilantly and talk with them frequently. Our deck is a collection of some pretty big name PMs and small boutiques and the portfolios run the spectrum of asset classes and strategies (not just low risk or fixed income) so everyday is different and interesting. Also, we have a lot of money and are a top insurance co in the VA world so people always want to talk to us. I’m young, this role got me out of auditing, and my co will pay 100% of my MBA and CFA - I’m happy and feel very lucky given the current environment.
needhelp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > insurance is all about actuaries and they look > down upon CFAs just like CFAs look down upon > actuaries. at least accountants do. The fastest > track to the top positions in insurance companies > is via taking actuarial exams. > > insuarnce is VERY EXTREMELY boring! I’m not sure why people think insurance companies are so much more boring than banks. They are pretty much the same thing. That said, I don’t work for an insurance company, but we own several.
Work at a lifeco in inv management. Doing mainly fixed income, preferreds and FI & credit derivatives. Have some involvement in asset allocation. There are other guys separate from us who manage mortgages, leases and private loans. There are ALM portfolios, spread portfolios and active portfolio (retained earnings/surplus – you name it). The management of retained earnings is more flexible and enjoyable. Some companies allow you to generate alpha in those portfolios. You have to master tons of constrains from actuaries, finance and capital management departments for ALM portfolios. “I’m not sure why people think insurance companies are so much more boring than banks.” Totally agree!. I don’t think a lot of guys who manage mutual funds had the opportunity to apply CDS, IR derivatives and do cross-asset class valuations. Although I would prefer the compensation packages at lifecos to get higher. But this is the discount you accept for job stability.