A pay boom is underway in the London insurance market as skilled professionals' salaries vie with those in investment banking, a key survey says.
Ironically it is the influence of banking strategies, such as alternative risk transfer and the trading of insurance-linked securities, that has fuelled insurance pay increases and brought both sectors into competition with each other.
Recruitment consultants Longbridge, the authors of the survey entitled Vision 2000, said this market development has led to increased demand for analysts, actuaries, statisticians, risk modellers and other specialists.
Salaries for a range of insurance occupations are:
Senior underwriter – £80,000 to £150,000.
Stuart White, head of Longbridge's insurance division, warned insurers may be beginning to face one of the more costly aspects of banking culture – bonuses.
He said: “If insurers are to entice quality individuals into the market from derivatives and securities, bonuses will need to be introduced more widely.”
The London insurance market has recovered from ten rocky years of consolidation and this turnaround has created demand for more skilled staff, White said.
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