Ensure a dream career

Life insurance in India has been liberalised after 43 years bringing to end the monopoly of the public sector Life Insurance Corporation of India. With this, India is now the cynosure of all the global insurance players’ eyes.
Numerous players, both Indian and foreign, have either commenced operations or announced their intention to launch insurance ventures in India.There are 12 players in the life insurance sector today, all competing for a share of the market pie.
Industry profile
The director of the insurance agency, Max New York Life, Rajesh Sud said: ‘‘Insurance is an economic device whereby the individual can substitute a small relative definite cost for a large uncertain financial loss that will have to be borne, if insurance is not available. The primary function of insurance is the creation of ‘counter balance’ for risk, which means security.’’
The industry provides protection against financial losses resulting from a variety of perils. By purchasing insurance policies, individuals and businesses can receive reimbursement for losses due to car accidents, theft of property, fire and storm damage, medical expenses and loss of income due to disability or death.
The insurance industry mainly comprises insurance carriers, insurance agents, insurance surveyors, actuaries and development officers. In general, insurance carriers are large companies that provide insurance and assume the risks covered by the policy. An insurance agent takes up an agency for selling life insurance policies, while the insurance underwriter reviews insurance applications and decides whether they should be accepted or rejected. Insurance surveyors are qualified investigators deputed for the assessment of losses, according to their qualifications and experience. And an actuary determines premium rates, studies, mortality trends, constructs mortality tables and lays down underwriting standards. Development officers in the sector are responsible for the sale of insurance policies in the allotted territorial jurisdiction. They recruit and train insurance agents.
The hierarchy in an insurance company is as follows:
• An agent
• An agency sales manager (unit manager or development officer)
• Sales manager/ area manager
• Branch manager
• Regional manager
• Country agency sales head
Main features
Sud said: ‘‘The underlying features of insurance are actuarial, underwriting, claims and training. Life insurance penetration in India is extremely low. It is reported that only 25 per cent of the insurable population is covered.’’
According to a report prepared by Watson Wyatt, a global consultancy firm, insurance companies today face an acute shortage of manpower well-versed in insurance knowledge especially in knowledge driven functions such as actuarial, underwriting, claims and training. This need will be further accentuated with competition.
Eligibility and training
The minimum eligibility to enter the insurance sector, in metro cities is 10+2, however in
the rural areas, a Class X pass out will do. The dean, College of Insurance and Risk Management, Rai University, U S Chaturvedi, remarked, ‘‘Insurance companies give weightage and preference in selection for various jobs, to persons holding graduate or postgraduate degrees or diploma in insurance, risk management, reinsurance or those who are associates’ fellow of professional bodies like insurance institutes of India.’’
For becoming an employee in a corporate, an agent has to go through 100 hours of Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) training and a postgraduate diploma in insurance. According to IRDA regulations, all insurance sales agents have to undergo a mandatory 100 hours of classroom training. The syllabus for this training has been laid down by IRDA and consists of about 60 per cent technical content on insurance, laws and Acts governing insurance, computation of premiums and 40 per cent behavioural content such as selling skills, motivation, morale building among others.
According to the regulations, only institutions accredited by IRDA could impart training. On completion of training, the participants have to sit for an examination conducted by the Insurance Institute of India (III). Training is provided on a continuous basis for two years.
But companies like Max New York Life believe that a mere 100 hours may not be adequate to empower future agents with the requisite skills. ‘‘We, therefore, offer 152 hours of training before the agent advisor can sell insurance in the marketplace. Max New York Life has its own IRDA-approved training institutes at each of its centre,’’ Sud added.
Remuneration and growth
‘‘The sector is expected to employ at least 5,00,000 people in the next two years according to some estimates,’’ Sud pointed out. The insurance industry, including both insurance carriers and agents and brokers, employed about 2.3 million wage and salary workers in 1998, said market reports.
Insurance is an area where opportunities are set to grow. Advanced training in insurance or specialisation can vary from actuarial to law. Clerical workers can advance to higher-paying claims adjusting positions and entry-level underwriting jobs. Sales’ workers may advance by handling greater numbers of accounts and more complex commercial insurance policies. Having a master’s degree helps advancement to higher levels of management. Many insurance companies expect their employees to take continuing education courses to improve their
professionalism and their knowledge of the industry.
The industry pays very well. According to Chaturvedi, ‘‘In lower management-entry cadre, emoluments range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 35,000 per month and in the middle-management cadre emoluments are Rs 6 lakh per annum onwards, while no such limits are fixed for higher-management cadres. Notably, packages are linked to professional inputs such as qualifications or experience.’’ He added, ‘‘Earnings of agents, third-party administrators (TPAs) and brokers are governed by IRDA regulations, while earnings of surveyors and loss assessors depend upon nature of work and assignments.’’
So, if you are interested in insurance then take the plunge, as the present time is ripe to rake in the moolah while you invest other person’s money, while providing him or her a risk-free life.