Insurance: A job sector in Asia that is very much alive and kicking

It’s a candidate-led market in this job sector.

The insurance industry continues to be robust with listed replacement positions and new jobs opportunities across Asia Pacific for skilled candidates. Asia insurance recruitment looks set to continue its winning streak in 2012, in contrast to its banking brethren. eFinancialCareers reports open roles in life insurance, reinsurance, and in brokerage firms after collecting insight from a number of industry peers.

So who are the most sought after hires in Hong Kong? Mainly front-office revenue generators including business developers and sales people, as well as underwriters and accountants. There is also demand for roles servicing the markets of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Better insurance than i-banking. It is not however a roaring employment market just yet. One staffing solutions company stated that eFinancialCareers spoke to stated that that there will be some slowdown in Q1 and Q2, but they are still seeing new opportunities arise. It is not a huge expansion, but eFinancialCareers expects things to pick up again in Q3.

The industry has been through downturns, but it has never born the brunt of the impact because the structure of the business is very different – it is a lot more stable than the hiring and firing at investment banks. It seems that recruiters have not seen much retrenchment in insurance. However, the candidate-led market means even the “few” that were laid off last year for underperforming were able to quickly secure new roles.

Candidate sentiment. Recruiters report that currently, candidates seem to be quite content to stay put, especially since some already moved last year. Of course if the right opportunity comes up, which offers better rewards and status, then these professionals are open to discussion.

The premium in getting senior insurance employees to move can range between 10 to 20% depending on the experience level and position. Most of these professionals are typically risk-adverse and will not actively switch jobs unless poached.

George McFerran is Managing Director of eFinancialCareers, Asia Pacific. After re-joining eFinancialCareers in 2006 to help establish the Singapore office and to aid the development of the Hong Kong and Singapore sites, George is now responsible for building the business across the entire Asia Pacific region.

During the six years that George previously spent with the company, he held a number of important positions including the role of Marketing Director. George was also part of the team that launched eFinancialCareers.

In 2004, George joined financial market intelligence leader, Standard & Poor’s to direct the EMEA marketing for the company’s Data and Information Services business. George’s first job was with eFinancialNews Ltd in their marketing department

George is a graduate of Newcastle University with a B.A. (Hons) in History.

About eFinancialCareers
eFinancialCareers, a Dice Holdings, Inc. company, is the leading global career site network for professionals working in the investment banking, asset management and securities industries. The website provides financial services professionals with job opportunities, job market news and analysis, salary surveys and career advice. Recruiters and employers can post jobs targeting specific sectors within the financial services industry, both buy-side and sell-side, and can search the resume database for highly qualified and specialized professionals. eFinancialCareers has a network of co-branded career sites with industry-leading trade publications and offers local websites in 19 markets and five languages primarily across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Please visit www.eFinancialCareers.hk for more information.