Presentation from the Chartered Insurance Institute and RiiG, University of Sussex, October 2016

1. Careers in Risk and Wealth Management
Mariona Solé – CII
Gordon Vater - RiiG

2. CII?
• World’s largest professional body for risk,
insurance – and financial planning
• 120,000+ members in 150+ countries
• CII includes the PFS – the UK’s largest body for
financial advisers (aka wealth managers)
• Thousands of employer links

3. Some risks from 2015/16

4. Or, put another way
• Insurance is about
• Risk transfer
• Peace of mind
• Social value
• Work-life balance
• 250,000 workforce in the UK
• £2 trillion invested from insurance sector

5. London – #1 finance centre

6. Risk is everywhere
• Across the UK
• Cities and towns
• Across the world
• Europe
• Middle East
• North America
• Central and South America
• Africa
• Asia

7. • Broker
• The link between client and insurer
• Negotiates with underwriter for best deal for
client
• Underwriter
• Negotiates with broker to accept or reject a risk
• Determines the price and conditions of a risk
• Loss adjuster
• Understand what/why has happened post-
event
• Works with insurers to accelerate
the compensation process
Client-facing roles include

8. • Actuary
• Data and trend analysis to predict future
• Works with underwriters to price a risk
• Claims
• Resolves claim in line with a contract
• Claims may last from days to years
Back-office roles include

9. Back-office roles include
• Risk/Catastrophe modeller
• Uses historical data to build models
around climate change
• Also relates to political risk and linked
areas
• Business support roles
• HR
• Marketing
• IT
• Finance

10. Careers in financial planning
and wealth management
Gordon Vater, ACII – CEO
RiiG Limited

11. London normally pays most
• Starting salaries £23-30k
• Five years’ experience £30-60k
• Ten years’ experience with ACII £60-100k+
Strong study support and career development
Strong work-life balance – even in London
Many global opportunities
Salaries

12. • Any degree
• Strong communication
• Strong problem-solving
• Strong analysis
• Attention to detail
• Work experience an advantage
• Languages may help in London Market
• It’s not about numbers (bar actuarial)
Employer expectations

13. Graduate qualifications
• Grad schemes usually include the CII
Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII)
• Takes 2-3 years to complete
• Covers law, management, broking, claims,
underwriting, risk management, marketing...
• ACII is globally-recognised – a second
passport
• Chartered status is the pinnacle

14. • From top 20 Fortune 500 to microbusinesses
• Thousands of brokers, hundreds of insurers
• Many London Market employers are SMEs
• Discover Risk website for more links
Employer size

15. Graduate recruiters include

16. Financial advice and planning

17. What is financial planning?
• The process of helping people and companies
secure their financial future, over many years
• Entrepreneurial – many SMEs
• Rewarding, in every sense
• Key to improving the UK’s financial capability

18. Who needs financial planning?
• Everyone, for different reasons, eg:
• Premier League footballer – short career,
little (financial) knowledge, large wealth
• CEO – time-poor, asset-rich
• Pensioner – limited resources, no earnings

19. The financial planning process

20. The financial planning process
• It is an iterative process
• Long-term client retention

21. Specialist
• Financial planner/adviser – client-facing
• Wealth manager – client-facing
• Paraplanner – back office, research
• Compliance technician – back office
General
• Marketing, IT, Finance, Administrator
Varied areas

22. Again, London normally pays most
This is a journey so check the destination
• Starting salaries £15-25k
• 3-5 years’ experience £25-75k
• CII-qualified with experience £50-100k+
• There are millionaires...
Salaries

23. Qualifications
Licence to practise area
• CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning (Dip
PFS) – the minimum requirement
• Covers tax, trusts, pensions, regulation,
investment, protection
• Chartered Financial Planner

24. • Communication
• Negotiation
• Analysis
• Problem-solving
• Relationship building – clients, other professions
• NB high-level mathematical skills are not key
Skills

25. Graduate recruiters include

26. Graduate schemes and
placements

27. Risk
• Most graduate schemes open in September
• Most close by year end
• Most internships and placements as above
• However, there are some graduate roles
advertised at other times eg NFU, TMK
• Check the Discover Risk website for updates
on internships and graduate schemes

28. Financial planning
• More SMEs so companies offer only one or
two graduate positions
• Opportunities appear year-round
• Increase in internships
• The Discover Risk website will have updates

29. Graduates in the following areas gain credits
• Accounting Actuarial
• Business Economics
• Finance Law
• Management Marketing
• Mathematics Statistics
• Recruitment based on soft skills more than
subject studied
Exemptions

30. • Get a Linkedin account
• Read the general press
• Read the trade press (Post/FT Adviser)
• Check, check, check CV
• Get work experience before graduation
• Use careers service
• Non-graduate scheme roles
• Discover membership
Remember…

31. • FREE
• Access to key market data
• Access to local network events and vidcasts
• Speakers from BA, Swiss Re, Crossrail etc
• Soft copies of member communications
• Affinity benefits to membership
Discover membership

32. • Great professions with wide range of roles
• Very robust
• Great opportunities to progress (and travel)
quickly
In summary
www.discoverrisk.co.uk
www.thepfs.org
discover@cii.co.uk
www.twitter.com/discrisk
www.facebook.com/discoverriskFB