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About Life Insurance
Sellick Partnership excel at delivering a tailored service – our expert team of consultants boast up-to-date market knowledge and a strong reputation nationwide, making us best placed to help you, whether you are an employer, or looking for your next career move.
We work with the following organisations in the life insurance market:
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Areas we cover include:
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Meet our people
Actuarial Team
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Austin Brislen
Manager
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Rachel Smith
Office Manager/Senior Resourcing Consultant
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Jacob Taylor
Consultant
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Meet the Team
the latest
Insights
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The Financial Conduct Authority’s general insurance market study: what does it mean?
On Wednesday 31 October 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a market study into how general insurance firms price home and motor insurance policies. The study, which is designed to ensure insurers have appropriate strategies in place to protect and treat customers fairly is set to be released next year. Alongside this, they have also published a paper that discusses fair pricing, both designed to try and make insurance pricing more transparent and fairer across the board. The FCA has raised concerns that current pricing strategies may cause harm, or alienate vulnerable customers and believes that insurers should be held more accountable and justify the rates they are charging their customers. The supervisory work that was carried out prior to this announcement has already highlighted a number of concerns, including firms failing to have appropriate or clear pricing strategies, governance and controls. Basically, the FCA has found that auto-renewal contracts and discrepancies with pricing certain items is very inconsistent, and could be catching some customers out. The FCA’s position appears to be that this is no longer acceptable and it needs to be addressed so that everyone has equal and fair access to insurance policies across the market. As a minimum the FCA expects firms to look after the interests of all customers and treat them fairly, whether they are new or long-standing. Whilst there seems to be some apprehension from some sections of the market as to how intrusive and revealing the probe may be, the general feeling is one of realisation that this review is long overdue and that general insurance pricing activities ought to have a greater level of consistency and fairness across all firms. What does this mean for the pricing market? This review will undoubtedly mean some major changes are on the horizon for insurers. If the review uncovers what many expect it will, I foresee some regulatory changes coming into effect to stop practices that may be deemed harmful, unfair or discriminatory. If this is the case, major insurers should be prepared to make some radical changes to their pricing process, practices and governance. If the FCA run at this market review as hard as we expect them to, I think new business premiums will rise due to many insurers having to reduce renewal premiums to comply with the FCA’s expected recommendations. This unfortunately will hit the pocket of all customers buying personal general insurance products and has the potential of greatly impacting customers who choose not to renew existing policies and shop around every year. The main question many insurers are asking at the moment is not whether change is coming but when change is coming. As you will expect, insurers are keen to understand how quickly proposed changes to current practices will need to be implemented by. This no doubt will be a contentious and contested point for the regulator and industry to iron out. What does this mean for the recruitment market? As for the recruitment market, I believe this will create some real opportunities for skilled candidates in this area. As with any major change comes work, and I envisage that this review will give insurers serious food for thought. Many will have to ask some hard hitting questions around whether they wipe the slate clean and start from scratch or implement a remedial or redress programme to bring their pricing in line with FCA expectations. I would therefore advise candidates in the area to look out for any developments that are released over the next 12 months. For those insurers that feel major changes will be needed, now might be the time to look for the resource you require to carry out such work. For candidates currently in the sector and thinking of a new opportunity, I believe the next 12 months will see the demand for talent increase, which could push salaries / day rates above current market rate. The FCA aims to publish an interim market study report in summer 2019, which will set out preliminary conclusions including a discussion of potential remedies. It aims to publish its final report and, where required, consultation on proposed remedies by the end of 2019. If you would like to discuss how this news might impact you, please feel free to get in touch with me. You can email me at austin.brislen@sellickpartnership.co.uk or call me directly on 0151 224 1480.
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Back to basics: CV writing for actuarial professionals
Curriculum vitae translates literally as ‘the story of your life’. It is a personal advertisement that will assist your next step up the career ladder to a better position, more money, and new challenges. It must represent the best you have to offer. Your CV can continue to work favourably even after it has obtained you an interview. It can help you at an interview by carefully focusing the interviewer’s mind on your good points and achievements. After the interview it will continue working for you, as the interviewer will probably reread it before making a decision. When it comes to salary negotiations a well-written CV can pay dividends do not take shortcuts! That being said, putting your CV together or updating your current one can often be a daunting task, particularly for senior actuarial professionals who may been out of the job market for a longer period of time. It is for this reason you should think carefully about putting together the relevant information for a winning CV. 1.Get the basics right When starting off your CV, it is easy to jump ahead and rush to the other sections, however, it is imperative to put a good plan to together to structure the document appropriately. Contact details are obviously a good place to start, with a mobile number, an evening number and email address. Try to also include the link to your LinkedIn profile to ensure whoever is interviewing can easily find it. This is a great way of giving them more information without clogging up your CV and making it longer than it needs to be. Other sections you should incorporate include; education, employment history, professional qualifications, specialist skills and software skills to name just a few. 2.Be authentic It is important to sell yourself and your skillset on your CV, but be sure not to exaggerate or twist the truth about your experience. Highlight your achievements and what makes you stand out in a competitive job market, but ensure you can always articulately back up your claims on paper with your expertise if you get to the interview stage. 3.Personal statement Include a short section at the top of your CV with a personal statement, detailing your key motivators, why you are looking to leave your current position and why you are interested in the role you are applying for alongside your relevant skills. Ensure this is concise and engaging to capture the attention of the hiring manager. 4.Numbers speak a thousand words Whilst it may take a bit of calculating, it is always worthwhile to incorporate numbers and statistics to sell your achievements. Telling a prospective employer that the models you built increased profitability by 28 percent has a much greater impact than just saying you helped increase profit. Solid statistics such as this can really impress potential hiring managers. 5.Tailor it every time Ensure you tailor your CV for every application to reflect the required skills, experience and culture of the organisation. Try to avoid slipping into the habit of just sending out a standard CV for every role. By tailoring your CV to a specific role, you instantly show you have gone out of your way to research the company and the role, making you stand out from the crowd even further. 6.Proof read it Your CV exists to demonstrate your expertise and professionalism to potential employers and simple mistakes or a lack of attention to detail is not the best first impression – and could even cost you from progressing further in the hiring process. Ensure you proof read it yourself, checking for minor spelling or grammatical errors. Then get someone else to do it too; casting a fresh eye on the document could pinpoint further errors that can be corrected before you send it off. Following these simple steps can really add value to the content of you CV and allow you to gain a winning edge with hiring managers. By continuously updating and refining your CV, you’re ensuring that you make a stellar first impression to recruiters and hiring managers, positioning yourself as the strongest candidate for the role. For more advice on securing your next Actuarial role contact me directly by emailing austin.brislen@sellickpartnership.co.uk.
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Benefits of benchmarking salaries – how do you compare?
Sellick Partnership has recently published their Salary Guide & Market Insight Report 2018/19 providing valuable insights into salaries, remuneration packages and recruitment trends for the Finance & Accountancy sector across the North West, Midlands, North East and Yorkshire. In this blog I will take a look at the benefits of candidates and clients benchmarking salaries, why it’s important and how you can use a Salary Guide to your advantage. How can it help clients? After going through the recruitment process and finding a high-calibre candidate who fits in well with your company culture and has all the necessary skills for the role, the last thing you want to happen is to have the candidate decline your offer. There are many reasons for why this might happen, but one of the main reasons could be down to the remuneration or benefits package that is on offer. Nowadays, roles will often be rejected if they do not offer the right level of flexible working or additional benefits such as 25 day holiday allocation and sabbaticals. Candidates within the Finance & Accountancy sector are searching for roles that will allow them to have a healthy work/life balance, and with multiple generations now firmly in the workplace it is important that employers are up-to-date with the motivations of the current talent pool in order to remain competitive. By offering the right package in-line with competitors and the current market, employers will be able to attract the very best candidates. The Sellick Partnership Salary Guide & Market Insight Report provides information on what salary and benefits packages are being offered in the North West, Midlands, North East and Yorkshire. By using this information you will then be able to tailor your offering to both current and future employees. The information provided in the guide will help you to evaluate your remuneration packages and find out if it is competitive enough compared with other salaries being offered in the market. How can it help candidates? When looking for a new role or speaking with your employer about a promotion, one of the first things anyone will always want to find out is what benefits are being offered, what the salary is, and how much can they expect to earn. Whether you are applying for a new role, or negotiating a new rate with your existing employer, it is important to do your research and find out how you compare with others in the same role. By finding out what similar companies are offering to their employees, you will be in a much better position to ask for the right salary for your role. Industry information is valuable, and will help you when negotiating with a potential or existing employer. Find out how you or your business compares today, and download Sellick Partnership’s Salary Guide & Market Insight Report 2018/19. If you are a finance professional looking to make your next career move, please click here to view our latest vacancies.
