Anyone ever worked there in actuarial or asset consulting? Just got a call from a recruiter and I am totally unfamiliar. Any advice on whether they are worth pursuing and, if so, what to expect would be great. Thanks!
They are a big actuarial shop. They mostly deal with the liabilities side of pensions. Mercer, Hywett, RogerCarsey, etc. are the big boys on the asset side. Its easier to jump from the liabilities to asset side then vice versa. I guess it depends on what you want to be doing. Expect pay to be similiar to what Big4 accounting would pay in terms of promotion and salary progression. Any idea on the type of job?
I have interviewed with them. yes, what kind of job is it? TP used to be an actuarial powerhouse. not sure whether still is. they also have a reinsurance business. i found them to be a bit beauracratic. also a bit late in adopting to changes in the industry. company reputation is solid though. job will be steady but not sexy.
There are a couple of for which I may be qualified, after I send them my resume (they haven’t reviewed it, and I’m not sure about the requirements yet). They were both on the asset consulting side, either asset consulting associate or consultant. Consultant is more senior.
Eureka, I worked for Towers Perrin as an Asset Consulting Associate in Toronto. You wont get a consulting role unless you are already a consultant elsewhere. The associate works for a consultant/s and they provide fund and manager research for large DB and DC pension plans. Good place to learn about the fund industry especially if you land with a good consultant who takes you to meetings ( with clients and investment managers) with them and have you involved in ad hoc projects. The work is very technical, especially come reporting season ( every quarter) producing large reports and very detail oriented, lots of checking/verifying etc. I left to pursue a role more client oriented and I pursued discretionary wealth management. Feel free to drop me an email and can fill you in on the role if you like. goleafs1980@hotmail.com
Eureka, I worked for Towers Perrin as an Asset Consulting Associate in Toronto. You wont get a consulting role unless you are already a consultant elsewhere. The associate works for a consultant/s and they provide fund and manager research for large DB and DC pension plans. Good place to learn about the fund industry especially if you land with a good consultant who takes you to meetings ( with clients and investment managers) with them and have you involved in ad hoc projects. The work is very technical, especially come reporting season ( every quarter) producing large reports and very detail oriented, lots of checking/verifying etc. I left to pursue a role more client oriented and I entered the discretionary wealth management field where I think I will stay for the long term. Feel free to drop me an email and can fill you in on the role if you like. goleafs1980@hotmail.com
I used to work at Aon and interviewed at Towers last year for an actuarial (DB) analyst role. From what I saw, it was a lot better than Aon in terms of reputation and in terms of compensation. More vacation, richer benefits, and much higher bonus potential (linked to overtime hours billed). I would definitely recommend pursuing. Best of luck in your endeavor. Edit: I received an offer and would have accepted but a more investment-oriented opportunity came along.
TP is a great firm; i have a friend still there… she’s an FSA (been there since her graduation for about 7 years). When you’re looking to an actuarial firm, probably Watson Wyatt, Hewitt, Mercer and TP (in no particular order) are the top four firms to get into. I started on the liability side as well… did that for couple years as an actuary at a smaller firm. Then I moved over to the asset side (@ an investment consulting firm now). Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck.
I am currently at a manager of managers and fund of funds, which is why I guess they thought I would be a good fit for the asset side. Most of my day is spent talking to PMs on the phone or at meetings and performing analysis to generate a investment case (or not, as the case may be). I guess my main concern is that it could be a lateral move (I’m not overly uncomfortable where I am now), but I guess the only way to find out is to go in for a talk with them.
eureka Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am currently at a manager of managers and fund > of funds, which is why I guess they thought I > would be a good fit for the asset side. Most of > my day is spent talking to PMs on the phone or at > meetings and performing analysis to generate a > investment case (or not, as the case may be). I > guess my main concern is that it could be a > lateral move (I’m not overly uncomfortable where I > am now), but I guess the only way to find out is > to go in for a talk with them. I am actually the opposite of you right now. I am at one of the “big boys” consulting, i rather not say which one. But you are already at an asset management firm, that’s much better in some ways, why go into consulting? A lot of people in the consulting industry go into the asset management side/firms once they have a couple of years of experience of them. Majority of them go into like fund of funds or client servicing at one of the institutional side firms, or even more DC platform based firms (which is weak as they won’t talk about sexy stuff like 130/30, LDI or Portable Alpha). So the question is, why do you want to go into consulting? As I myself want to head over the asset management instead when I am here.
eureka Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anyone ever worked there in actuarial or asset > consulting? Just got a call from a recruiter and > I am totally unfamiliar. Any advice on whether > they are worth pursuing and, if so, what to expect > would be great. > > Thanks! I am assuming the Towers Perrin position is in Toronto. I know pension consulting is still expanding in Toronto right now.
IH8FSA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Eureka, > > I worked for Towers Perrin as an Asset Consulting > Associate in Toronto. > > You wont get a consulting role unless you are > already a consultant elsewhere. The associate > works for a consultant/s and they provide fund and > manager research for large DB and DC pension > plans. Good place to learn about the fund > industry especially if you land with a good > consultant who takes you to meetings ( with > clients and investment managers) with them and > have you involved in ad hoc projects. The work is > very technical, especially come reporting season ( > every quarter) producing large reports and very > detail oriented, lots of checking/verifying etc. > > I left to pursue a role more client oriented and I > pursued discretionary wealth management. > > > Feel free to drop me an email and can fill you in > on the role if you like. > > goleafs1980@hotmail.com SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE WHAT I DO, analyst with billable hours (that always strikes me as being somewhat odd)… I wanna head over to a money management shop too… how long have you been at Towers? or consulting experience before heading over to client servicing?
one more piece of advice eureka, I know towers is very big on DC; DC consulting is not where you want to be; your work would entail choosing record keepers and no other exciting work. if it’s DB I would consider it a lot, but a lot of DB associates or Consultants will have their ASA (or even FSA) coupled with the CFA. DB consulting is umuch more exicint as it deals with a lot of innovative finnance stuff as mentioned earlier in the post like what is 130/30, portable alpha, LDI, etc and how to implement. DC will have none of that for obvious reasons. So to really compared the type of work, I would say DB consulting is more like analyst at an IB compared with DC consutling where you are more like an advisor at a commercial/retail bank.
That sounds exactly like my job. eureka, I probably wouldn’t take it if your at a FoF. One of the exits of a consultant is going to a FoF. So if your already at a FoF it seems like a step back. A large FoF will probably make alot more money then a consulting company anyways. IH8FSA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Eureka, > > I worked for Towers Perrin as an Asset Consulting > Associate in Toronto. > > You wont get a consulting role unless you are > already a consultant elsewhere. The associate > works for a consultant/s and they provide fund and > manager research for large DB and DC pension > plans. Good place to learn about the fund > industry especially if you land with a good > consultant who takes you to meetings ( with > clients and investment managers) with them and > have you involved in ad hoc projects. The work is > very technical, especially come reporting season ( > every quarter) producing large reports and very > detail oriented, lots of checking/verifying etc. > > I left to pursue a role more client oriented and I > pursued discretionary wealth management. > > > Feel free to drop me an email and can fill you in > on the role if you like. > > goleafs1980@hotmail.com
That is kind of what I was thinking, as far as it being a step back. The thing is my current role doesn’t really seem to be completely safe right now (we have had turnover, and things are in flux), so I guess it can’t hurt to follow up with them. Also, salary is always a consideration, so I may as well see what to expect and whether it would be worth my while. Also, whether it would be a consulting or associate opportunity seems to be a major consideration. I don’t want to say where this is, but it is not in TO. IH8FSA, I will take you up on the offer for more info as things progress. I truly appreciate everyone’s contributions.
i have a general idea of the salary package at each level, so you can pm me and I can let you know. but usually people who doesn’t have consultanting background will not jump in to be a consultant unless it’s at a small shop, but towers is not. so you will probably be a senior associate for like 1-2 years and have to prove that you are able to hold your own in a client meeting before given any chance of having your own clients. typically if it’s DC, you will rip though those meeings as you will only need to explain information ration, tracking error etc. but DB is the beast, at your clients are mostly acturial as well. you will most likely not lead at DB meetings. There will be tons of job safety, but there has been a trend globally from a shift of DB plans into DC plans. And more so not that companies are going under and after this second “Perfect Storm” it’s just going to reinforce the benefits of DC for both employers and employees… DB plans are getting a beating right now. interest rates almost nearly 0%!! and the equity markets tumbling down. it’s just a matter of time before a company goes under because of being unfunded.