Insurance is a financial agreement between two people or parties—the ‘insurer’ and the ‘insured’, namely to protect the ‘insured’ against certain risks. Before the onset of liberalisation in 1990s, life and general insurance were the exclusive domain of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and General Insurance Company (GIC) with it subsidiaries called Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance, New India Assurance and National Insurance. Thus, career options were limited to these organisations only.
The opening up of the insurance sector and the entry of private companies like Bajaj Allianz, Prudential ICICI, ICICI Lombard, Birla Sun Life, Max New York, Tata AIG etc. has led to an ever increasing demand for well-qualified, trained and skilled professionals in the insurance industry.
The industry requires professionals in diverse disciplines, such as marketing, distribution, operations, financial experts specialising in investment, banking and mutual funds, accountancy, HR, software programming, technical and medical experts, agents, actuaries, underwriters, risk managers and surveyors to name a few. While some of these, like programming, marketing, etc, are common to other industries, the rest are exclusive to the insurance sector.
Insurance Agent: Insurance is never bought, it is always sold. Insurance Agents sell insurance policies for insurance companies. A person with the minimum qualification of 12th standard pass (in urban areas) or class 10th pass (in rural areas) and 18 years of age can become an insurance agent, provided he/she clears the pre-recruitment test conducted by the Insurance Institute of India.
While the Insurance Institute of India has been recognised by the IRDA as the only institute to conduct the exam, a number of institutes have start offering training for this course. While some of these are exclusively for training would-be agents, others are companies (e.g. HDFC), those want to provide in-house training on company specific products.
Though the regulator has provided a minimal qualification that stops at high school and secondary school level, the private insurance players are looking beyond, at graduates and post-graduates too. A graduation in science or commerce with a good command over the language and a well-knit social circuit will help one get recruited as trainee insurance agent by a private company. The person may need to clear a pre-training interview/test before being considered for the training programme.
Sky is the limit to the earnings of an agent since he/she works on commission. An agent in LIC is required to insure at least 12 lives per year. Thereafter his/her earnings depend upon the types of plans he/she sells and the number of policies. The agent gets to earn substantial amounts on these too, especially if the life insurance runs into five figures. And, what with each individual allowed representing one life and one non-life insurance company the opportunities are immense.
Actuary
There are certain specialised functions in the insurance industry. Actuaries are specialists in the mathematics of insurance and investment finance. They advise the insurance companies regarding their risk portfolio and match their financial assets and liabilities.
The long and exacting study and the paucity of a real market for these skills, till recently, was responsible for restricting the number of qualified Actuaries in the country to a mere handful. However, IRDA’s new regulation stipulating that all insurance companies (Life as well as Non-life) must have an Appointed Actuary has fuelled the demand for these specialists in the country.
How do you become one? A degree in mathematics, statistics, economics, business or finance is a good starting point for a career in actuarial science. You could even do your B.A. in actuarial science or a postgraduate certificate/diploma in insurance.
However, to become an actuary you need to become a Fellow member of Actuarial Society of India, which is an organisation that is something like the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The Fellow membership is achieved by passing examinations at various stages and fulfilling other conditions as required from time-to-time.
A person is eligible to be considered for admission as student member if he/she satisfies one of the following four conditions:
1. Passed 10+2 (H.S.C) or equivalent with at least 85% in Mathe-matics/Statistics (with recommendations from two Fellow members of the Society) and the medium of instruction is English in +2 or equivalent level.
2. Graduate or Post Graduate with subjects like Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Engineering, MBA (Finance) and alike besides Actuarial Science would be eligible provided:
i) The total marks secured in the subjects coming under the classification of Mathematical Sciences taken together in all the years of the degree course are not less than 55%.
ii) The content of Mathematical sciences subjects’ content in all the years of the course taken together is not less than 50% of the total content.
iii) The medium of instruction at the Graduate/Post Graduate level has been English.
3. Fully qualified members of Professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and Certified Institute of Financial Analysts of India, as also other qualified persons like MBAs, are considered on a case-to-case basis. While considering the application, one of the aspects to look for is the extent and level of mathematical/statistical knowledge acquired by the applicant.
4. All continuing students of Institute or Faculty of Actuaries, UK, Society of Actuaries, USA, Casualty Actuarial Society, USA, and Institute of Actuaries of Australia are admitted on application.
While Actuarial Science can be pursued at various universities, the ASI alone confers the Fellowship.
Address: The Actuarial Society of India, 9, Jeevan Udyog, 3rd Floor, 278, D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai- 400001. website: www.actuariesindia.org
Underwriters
Both life and non-life segments require professional underwriters, who assess the risk in the business. In the life insurance business, an underwriter is expected to filter the “bad or substandard lives”, whereas he takes care of risk management in the general insurance segment. An underwriter reviews insurance applications and decides whether they should be accepted or rejected. His or her judgement is based on the degree of risks that would be involved in insuring people or objects of concern. The underwriter explains policies and quotes rates to medical personnel, other insurance companies or field representatives.
People with medical or life science background are preferred. One must also take up the fellowship offered by the Insurance Institute of India or the courses offered by Institute of Risk Management.
Address: Insurance Institutes of India, Universal Insurance Bldg, 6th Floor, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.
The institute runs courses and conducts examinations in insurance theory and practice and in related subjects for awarding certificates, diploma and degree in insurance. III conducts qualifying exams at three basic levels—licentiate, associate-ship and fellowship in both general and life insurance sectors. Courtesy the winds of reform sweeping across the Indian insurance scene, the Insurance Institute of India (III) is in talks with international insurance institutes and management schools to help build definite “specialised insurance” courses in India.
Insurance Surveyors
Insurance surveyors are qualified ‘investigators’ deputed for the assessment of losses, according to their qualification and experience. Insurance Surveyors assess the losses and claims when a client claims compensation for loss of property etc., due to accident, damage, fire, arson, theft, etc.
A licensed surveyor needs to have a Fellowship/ Associateship of the Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters (IISA), D.N. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001 or a degree/diploma in architecture or a Fellowship/Associateship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants or Cost and Works Accountants or a degree/diploma in engineering. An engineer or a diploma holder can straight-away apply to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for a licence.
Alternatively, a graduate could clear the exams conducted by the IISA and become a surveyor.
Assistant Administrative Officer (AAO)
The big brother of the Insurance industry in India is LIC (Life Insurance Corporation), which employs over 100,000 people. Administrative Officer (AO)/Class I Officer in LIC/GIC deals with the registry of claims within certain permissible financial limits. He also deals with policy making, checking of various clauses and details.
The eligibility criterion for recruitment into both the LIC and GIC is the same.
You can join LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) as Assistant Administrative Officers (class 1), through a highly competitive all-India examination, conducted by LIC, involving written test and personality assessment through an inteview The Development AAO (Class II Officer) in LIC deals with marketing and procurement of business, meeting prospective clients, promoting the policies and getting contracted. He recruits and train insurance agents. It is mainly a field job. Graduates in the age group of 21 years-26 years are eligible.
University and other Institutes offering courses in insurance
BA in Actuarial Science/Insurance: Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra - 136119, Haryana; University of Mumbai, M.G. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400003; University of Delhi, Delhi - 110007; Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar - 751004; Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal - 795003.
BSc in Actuarial Science: Goa University, Sub PO Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa - 403203.
Masters in Insurance Management (2-yr FT), PG Diploma in Insurance Management(1-yr FT/2-yr PT) Certificate in Life & Non-Life Insurance Management (for agents interme-diaries): Amity School of Insurance and Actuarial. Science, M Block, Saket, N. Delhi - 110017.
MSc in Actuarial Science: University of Chennai, Centenary Buildings Chepauk, Triplicane PO, Chennai - 600005.
PG in Actuarial Science: Kalyani University, PO Kalyani - 741235, Distt. Nadia (WB). Conducted in collaboration with LIC, this course, the first of its kind in the country, comprises transactions in finance, insurance and banking operations. Eligibility: Graduation with maths as one of the subjects.
PG Diploma in Actuarial Science: Bharathidasan University, Palkalaiperur, Tiruchirapalli - 620024, T.N.; Bishop Heber College (affiliated to Bharathidasan University), Tiruchirapalli - 620017.
PG Diploma in Insurance & Financial Service: University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune - 411007.
Diploma in Insurance: University of Chennai, Centenary Buildings, Chepauk, Triplicane PO, Chennai - 600005.
Diploma in Insurance (PT): Annamalai University, PO Annamalai Nagar - 608002, T.N.
Diploma in Banking & Insurance: Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh - 202002, U.P.
PG Diploma in Insurance Management (correspondence): Alagappa University, Directorate of Distance Education, Alagappa Nagar, Karaikudi - 623003.
PG Diploma in Insurance & Risk Management: Birla Institute of Management & Technology, Sector 4, Pushpa Vihar, New Delhi - 110017.
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