Planning a Career in Insurance?

Insurance is one of the most dynamic sectors in the financial world. With the ever-changing regulations, new economic challenges and opportunities like increasing purchasing capacity and standard of life, market trends, investment capacity, change of habit, change of taste, change of profession, new diseases, improved lifestyle etc., and impetus on compliances, governance and reporting system and self-governance, this sector is challenging, growing and promising desirable career opportunities for both young and experienced professionals. Careers in insurance can offer rewarding professional growth and desirable salaries.

It’s a huge market. The value of gross premiums collected by insurance companies in India is almost over ₹9 trillion (Year 2022) even though the insurance penetration rate in India is much lower as compared to the global average. However, with the new initiatives undertaken by the Government, insurance density in India is showing an upward trend for the last couple of years. That promises much room for further growth and with increasing purchasing power and saving capacity, this sector is bound to boom in days to come.

Summary of Indian Insurance Sector (IRDA)

Indian Insurance Sector Summary – FY 2023–24

Particular	Unit	2023–24 Figures	Notes
Number of Companies	Nos.	57	Includes life and non-life insurers
Number of Foreign Reinsurers' Branches	Nos.	11	No change from previous year
Number of Offices of Insurers	Nos.	~22,000	Slight increase; exact figure not disclosed
Insurance Penetration	%	3.7	Declined from 4% in 2021–22
Insurance Density	US $	95	Improved from $91
Total Premium	₹ Crore	11,20,000+	Approximate GWP across life & non-life
Market Share of PSUs (including Specialized)	%	~55	Private sector gaining ground
Total Claims	₹ Crore	~8,67,000	Life: ₹5.77L Cr; Non-life: ₹2.90L Cr
Assets Under Management	₹ Crore	~60,00,000	Estimated based on LIC and private growth
No. of Grievances Reported	Nos.	~2,25,000	IRDAI improving tracking tools
No. of Grievances Resolved	Nos.	~2,23,000	High resolution rate maintained
Grievance Resolution Rate	%	99	Consistent with previous year

Insurance Sector Categories

The insurance sector is divided broadly into two sectors: Life and Non-Life.

Non-Life Insurance

The Non-Life Insurance (also known as General Insurance) caters to loss of assets caused due to calamities, accidents, or human factors. This category includes coverage for all aspects of non-life insurance including property, marine and other forms of transport, aviation, ship (called Hull), commerce, credit, industry, manufacturing, plant, project, travel, crop, agriculture, cattle, automobile etc. Another category is liability insurance like public liability, casualty, health, accident, professional liability, cyber liability, fidelity of employees etc.

Life Insurance

Life insurance deals with human life—death, early death, and incapacity to work. However, there is a twist. Life insurance also comes with investment options. In insurance jargon, they are called “with-profit” policies. Such policies usually come with regular investment opportunities with guaranteed, partially guaranteed, or non-guaranteed profit or bonus. Products like ULIP in India (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) come with both insurance and investment opportunities; however, return on investment is not fixed or guaranteed. On the other hand, products like annuity, pension plans etc. come with guaranteed investment and return. Those who have an appetite for finance and investment may find it very interesting and challenging to work with life insurance companies.

Risk Management in Insurance

Another sub-sector in insurance is Risk Management. Insurance deals with risks. One of the objectives is thus to mitigate such risks, reduce their effect and cost. The end result will be reduction in insurance cost, thereby increased coverage and revenue and most importantly preservation of wealth and continuity of operation. Insurance companies do not pay from their pocket. They pool money from people and pay out of that pooled fund. If the risk is reduced or its impact is contained, the cost of damage will reduce.

Choosing Your Insurance Career Path

Those who are looking to work in the insurance sector may need to decide broadly whether to go for Life Insurance or Non-Life Insurance. Because both are just different and require unique and relevant expertise and training. It may be difficult to change from one to another easily in the middle of your career journey.

Career Opportunities in Insurance

We have divided the career opportunities in the Insurance Sector into three broad categories. We have identified 10 such professions as below—some unique opportunities that are available in the Insurance sector only (or at least have much broader opportunities than others).

A. Highly Paid Professions Unique to Insurance Sector

• Actuaries
• Underwriters
• Fraud Investigators
• Claim Managers
• Surveyor and Loss Assessors
• Marine Lawyer
• Insurance Lawyer
• Risk Management
• Insurance Sales Person
• Point of Sale Person
• Captive Insurance Agent

B. Third-Party Service Provider Opportunities in Insurance Sector

• Insurance Agent
• Insurance Brokers
• Insurance Marketing Firm
• Insurance Broking Firm
• Insurance Web-Aggregator
• Third Party Administrator (TPA) – Medical/Health Insurance

C. Traditional and Common Professions in Insurance Sector

• Sales and Marketing
• Research & Data Analytics
• Administration and Management
• Compliances and Governance
• Investment Specialist
• Accounting
• Advertising

Profession Details

1. Actuary

Actuaries are defined by the Institute of Actuaries of India as a person qualified to calculate financial and commercial impact and valuation of uncertainty and risk of future events by using advanced techniques and models based on future scenarios under financial, economic, social, demographic, technology and probabilistic situations. Actuaries are backbone of insurance companies and are regarded as a highly acknowledged profession.

Actuaries are expected to have statistical, mathematical and financial skill to use various models in understanding various risk factors and quantifying their probabilities and costs. They are also expected to have good understanding of economic, financial, demography and insurance risks. They are the only ones who value both the asset and the liability part for an insurance company or a financial or banking project as well as value the future liability.

Actuaries identify, analyse and put a price on various risks. They work in an environment of uncertainty from all angles: regulations, data, market, behaviour, and use theory of probabilities-based statistical or mathematical models and model a strategy.

As per IRDA regulation, every insurance company must have their actuaries employed and also fix their role and responsibility. In a population of 1.4 billion there are only 569 Fellow and 231 Associate Actuaries in India as on October 2023. Qualifying as an actuary in India is tough enough and only the most skilled professionals clear all the levels of qualification examination.

Know more about Actuaries

2. Insurance Underwriter

Underwriting is the process by which an organisation assesses the risks on transactions or businesses it is undertaking. It helps them to determine whether taking a particular risk makes business sense. Underwriters are employed in various types of business. The most noticeable are the Insurance Underwriter and Loans Underwriters.

An insurance underwriter examines the health and financial information in case of life insurance and technical, legal, financial information and physical conditions, values and several similar parameters with regards to assets, liabilities, operations etc. in case of property insurance. They base their assessment on a careful analysis of the applicant's data, past experience and other available or discreet information and expert’s opinion. An insurance underwriter usually takes any of these two decisions:

• Whether to accept the risk or reject it.
• If accepted, then on what terms, price and extent.

Before granting an insurance, an underwriter does a risk analysis. He uses various skills to analyse and assess the risk. As such he/she requires a series of specialized skills, including analytical, computer, communication, and math skills.

Underwriting is still considered both an art as well as a science. Despite a high degree of professional and technical expertise, which a modern underwriter possesses, it is in how judiciously he applies it to the realities of his working life that exemplifies the quality of his contribution and his utility to the organization.

Know more about Insurance Underwriters

3. Fraud Investigator

Over the last few decades, the importance of preventing, avoiding and eradicating frauds is being increasingly understood by almost all industries including insurance, banking and finance, public services, cyber sector, IT sector etc. However, the lack of a comprehensive and integrated approach to fraud management continues to be a concern. Insurance industry is particularly prone to false claims (inflated claims) or even fraud claims (organised fake claims) and money laundering, terrorism and cyber-crimes in multiple types of insurance.

According to research reports, the insurance sector in India loses approx. ₹30,000 crore every year due to frauds and every insurer in the country loses 8.5% of its revenue.

Fraud investigators often come from law enforcement fields like former or retired military police or any other police personnel. Some become special investigators after becoming experienced as claims adjusters and learn on the job and by taking courses.

Different specialised types of fraud investigator jobs may be available in the insurance sector. The main ones are a common claim adjuster, an arson adjuster or a severe claims adjuster (hurricanes, large fires etc.), and a liability investigator.

Fraud investigators are not licensed in India. In other words, there is no licensing requirement. This fact makes the situation more difficult and fraud investigators need to operate within the legal framework. They are required to gather information and evidence that may be required to produce before court or other authorities to substantiate their findings.

Know more about Fraud Investigators

4. Insurance Surveyor and Loss Assessor

An Insurance Surveyor investigates, quantifies, validates and deals with losses and damages to property, life, health etc. arising out of contingency whether covered by insurance or not. Such investigation and validations of losses help insurance companies to settle insurance claims. An Insurance Surveyor follows established processes and procedures in investigation and assessment and is required to carry out responsibilities with competence, objectivity and professional integrity with strict conformance to the IRDAI’s Code of Conduct.

Insurance Surveyors are also known by different synonyms like “Loss Assessor” or “Loss Surveyor”, “Loss Adjustors” etc. Although there is a very thin line difference in their job profile, they are recognised as the same person in insurance parlance.

Apart from investigation of losses (whether claimable or non-claimable), surveyors are also engaged in risk assessment of new proposals where they visit the site and assess the probability of losses, estimated value, risk control measures, identify maximum probable loss and other parameters and report to the insurer to help them determine whether to underwrite a risk or not.

Surveyors are also appointed for pre-shipment inspection of cargo in marine insurance. They also carry out risk surveys and collaborate with risk managers to identify, evaluate, and report risk to other parties such as loss adjusters, underwriters, and even business owners to ensure they are aware of risks that are relevant to them.

No person or a firm or a company shall act as a Surveyor and Loss Assessor in insurance without being licensed under IRDA Regulation. Every person intending to act as a Surveyor and Loss Assessor in respect of general insurance business shall apply to the Authority for grant of licence in the form as may be specified by the Authority.

Surveyors and Loss Assessors shall be appointed either by insurers or insured to assess loss under a policy of insurance in respect of:

• Motor insurance – above Rupees fifty thousand
• Other than motor insurance – above Rupees one lakh

Know more about Surveyors

5. Claim Managers

Claims Managers decide whether to accept and pay or deny a claim. If accepted, they have to find out the legitimate amount of claim, after considering the assessment of actual amount of loss, legal requirement, compliances, commitments made in the policy documents and whether required documents and claim process is adhered to and lastly but most importantly whether the claim recipient is genuine and there is no fraud and money laundering involved. So, the responsibility is quite high and it requires knowledge of law, compliances, processes, decision-making skills etc.

6. Risk Manager

A Risk Manager is responsible for determining the types of risks that could affect an organisation’s assets, operation, finance, health, legal compliance or reputation. Their duties include reviewing business operational procedures, employee data, external factors like market trends etc. and presenting their findings to upper management personnel, communicating management decisions to personnel, department managers or legal staff, and overseeing the implementation of various risk management processes so as to reduce the cost of risk.

Financial institutions and banks, insurance companies, manufacturing units and other industrial enterprises are the major recruiters for Risk Managers.

There are also Independent Risk Managers who work for or provide consultancy services to one or more insurance companies on a fee basis.

A career in Risk Management is in high demand now, thanks to the problems faced by various industries due to COVID-19. The demand for qualified risk professionals has increased as more companies seek to shore up their defences against future crises.

Know more about Risk Managers

7. Insurance Sales Person (ISP)

Insurance Sales Person (ISP) is a person employed by Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF) to solicit and procure insurance products. ISP is required to be registered with IRDAI. ISP is required to undergo minimum qualification and training as prescribed by IRDAI. ISP is allowed to sell insurance products of one Life, one Non-Life and one Health Insurance Company only. ISP is also allowed to sell other financial products like Mutual Fund, Pension Fund, Loans etc. as permitted by IRDAI. ISP is required to work under the supervision of Financial Service Executive (FSE) and Principal Officer of IMF.

Know more about ISPs

8. Point of Sale Person (PoSP)

PoSP is an alternate distribution channel introduced by IRDAI in 2015. PoSP is allowed to sell simple and pre-underwritten insurance products only. PoSP is required to undergo minimum qualification (10th pass) and training (15 hours) as prescribed by IRDAI. PoSP is allowed to sell insurance products of one Life, one Non-Life and one Health Insurance Company only. PoSP is required to work under the supervision of Insurance Company or Insurance Intermediary.

Know more about PoSP

9. Insurance Agent

Insurance Agent is a person who is licensed by IRDAI to solicit and procure insurance products. Insurance Agent is required to undergo minimum qualification (12th pass), training (25–75 hours) and pass IC-38 examination conducted by IRDAI. Insurance Agent is allowed to sell insurance products of one Life, one Non-Life and one Health Insurance Company only. Insurance Agent is required to work under the supervision of Insurance Company.

Insurance Agent can be:

• Direct Agent (Life/Non-Life/Composite)
• Captive Agent
• Micro Finance Agent

Know more about Insurance Agents

10. Insurance Broker

Insurance Broker is a firm or company registered with IRDAI to arrange insurance business and provide consultancy services. Insurance Broker is allowed to sell insurance products of multiple insurance companies. Insurance Broker is required to have minimum capital, infrastructure, manpower and compliance as prescribed by IRDAI. Insurance Broker is required to appoint Principal Officer, Broker Qualified Person (BQP) and other staff as prescribed by IRDAI.

Insurance Broker can be:

• Direct Broker
• Reinsurance Broker
• Composite Broker

Know more about Insurance Brokers

11. Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF)

Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF) is a firm or company registered with IRDAI to market insurance products and provide other financial services. IMF is allowed to sell insurance products of one Life, one Non-Life and one Health Insurance Company only. IMF is required to appoint Principal Officer, Financial Service Executive (FSE) and Insurance Sales Person (ISP) as prescribed by IRDAI. IMF is required to have minimum capital, infrastructure, manpower and compliance as prescribed by IRDAI.

Know more about Insurance Marketing Firms

12. Third Party Administrator (TPA)

TPA is a company registered with IRDAI to provide health insurance services. TPA is allowed to provide services to multiple insurance companies. TPA is required to have minimum capital, infrastructure, manpower and compliance as prescribed by IRDAI. TPA is required to appoint Principal Officer, Medical Officer and other staff as prescribed by IRDAI. TPA is required to have agreement with Insurance Company and Hospital. TPA is required to operate exclusively in health insurance services.

Know more about TPA

13. Insurance Web Aggregator

Insurance Web Aggregator is a company registered with IRDAI to provide online comparison and sale of insurance products. Web Aggregator is allowed to sell insurance products of multiple insurance companies. Web Aggregator is required to have minimum capital, infrastructure, manpower and compliance as prescribed by IRDAI. Web Aggregator is required to appoint Principal Officer, Web Aggregator Qualified Person (WAQP) and other staff as prescribed by IRDAI. Web Aggregator is required to operate through website only and follow IRDAI guidelines.

Know more about Web Aggregators

Qualifications & Training

There are several qualifications and training programs available in India for those who want to pursue a career in the insurance sector. Some of the popular ones are:

Degrees/Diplomas	Expected Role
Licentiate/Associate/Fellow from III, Hyderabad	Claim Managers, Underwriters, Agents, Brokers
Risk Management course from IIRM, Hyderabad	Risk Manager, Claim Manager, Underwriter
PGDM from NIA Pune or BIMTECH	Marketing, Administration, Brokers
Diploma in Marine/Fire Insurance from III	Underwriters in Marine Insurance
MBA in Insurance & Banking from Amity	Actuaries, Underwriters
Graduation in Insurance/Actuarial Science	Actuary, Risk Manager
PG Diploma in Health Insurance (PGDHI)	Health Insurance Underwriters
PG Diploma in Insurance Marketing (PGDIM)	Insurance Marketing
Diploma in Casualty Actuarial Science	Actuaries
Advanced Diploma in Life Insurance Underwriting	Underwriters
Certified Insurance Anti-Fraud Professional (CIAFP)	Fraud Investigator