Management Reporting – Forecasting the future growth of a company’s upcoming business is one of the key areas within the finance function in the insurance industry. Management reporting candidates are needed to work effectively with other parties to conduct reports and provide an in depth commentary to seniors at the group level. Candidates are required to have thorough experience in management reporting alongside excellent soft skills.
Financial Actuaries – Demand is increasing for these candidates who are required to provide in-depth insights with a wider perspective. An actuary with an accounting background is highly valued in the market due to the higher demand in business support. Actuaries with the accounting experience will be an excellent foundation for a Chief Financial Officer role if not a leadership role.
Project and Systems Accountants – Due to the growth of the insurance industry in Asia, there has been a surge of increase for Project and Systems accountants. There has been a great deal of mergers and acquisitions in the market, as a result they will need experts that can handle the systems migration and in depth UAT. Projects that increase the efficiency of accounting systems are continuing to demonstrate vital importance. Emerging reasons for high turnovers within certain insurance companies is due to the company’s accounting system.
Business Development Professionals (General Insurance) – As we approached the fourth quarter in 2012, there were multiple changes in management executives across the largest General Insurers in Hong Kong leading to extensive plans to make the Hong Kong market more competitive. With major insurers having a large part of the market share, we see a trend of these insurers increasing their distribution methods to increase their share away from the small to medium sized insurers. The business lines property, casualty and marine remain stable while we see an increase in demand from engineering and health experienced candidates with strong underwriting and business development knowledge.
Project Managers (Life Insurance) – Early in this quarter we expect employers to initiate new projects or decide to take on new headcount within the PMO. Conversely, PMO candidates who are on contract will also be more abundantly available as their contracts expire approximately the same time. We will see project initiatives to implement new systems, as a large number of major life insurers are seeking to improve and enhance their operations systems. We also see a growth in strategic initiatives as the competition for market share continues to increase.