Actuarial professionals soar through £1,000 per day barrier

Actuarial professionals soar through £1,000 per day barrier as insurers rush to meet Solvency II deadline

? Salaries almost double in one year

? 25% retention bonuses

? Actuaries earning up to £275,000 a year through contract work

Actuarial professionals working on Solvency II projects have soared through the £1,000 per day barrier as insurers rush to meet the 31 December 2012 compliance deadline, says ReThink Recruitment, the business and technology staffing company.

ReThink says that it has recently been placing actuaries on Solvency II projects on contracts worth £1,100 per day - equivalent to around £275,000 a year. ReThink says that salaries have almost doubled from last year, when staff were earning £600 per day.

ReThink says that in-demand candidates - such as actuarial systems modellers - have received pay rises of over 20% in the last six months alone. Candidates on contracts worth £900 per day are now receiving offers from rival firms of up to £1,100 a day.

Many candidates are also being offered bonuses of up to 25% just to stay in their current job for six months. These bonuses, which are designed to stop rival insurers poaching key workers, are only given to the contractor on completion of the contract and usually amount to a five figure sum.

According to ReThink, there has been a surge in demand for actuaries as insurers upgrade their systems to be fully prepared for the Solvency II requirements, due to come into force on 31 December 2012.

Guy Stubbing, Head of the Insurance practice at ReThink, comments: “The rush to comply with Solvency II is creating enormous demand for candidates with both actuarial and IT skills. These ‘hybrid’ candidates, who are qualified actuaries with IT skills and experience in areas like risk modelling and reporting systems, are in very short supply. What we are seeing now is a bidding war, which will only intensify as the deadline draws nearer.”

“The market is now almost entirely candidate-led – with four offers per candidate typical. Candidates have so much choice that one even rejected a £1,100 per day contract because the hirer was not prepared to allow her to work from home!”

He adds: “With retention bonuses becoming much more prevalent, it is becoming far harder for employers to poach staff from competitors.”

The Solvency II regulations will impose new capital and risk management requirements. These will require insurers to update their internal risk models, databases and reporting systems – all of which will require extensive investment in IT.

ReThink explains that insurers will need new or enhanced risk management systems - and for many this will mean building bespoke IT systems.

ReThink says that the shortage of qualified candidates has become so acute that insurers are increasingly having to sponsor non-EU workers to fill roles.

Guy Stubbing says: “75% of the candidates we place are non-British. A lot are from the EU, but the shortage of IT people with experience in this area is forcing many insurers to recruit non-EU workers to fill key roles.”

“Many insurers are now in a race against time to be ready for Solvency II, and the pool of suitable candidates is dwindling. We have heard of qualified staff in Australia being offered £10,000 relocation bonuses as a further inducement to bring them across.”