What is Reinsurance?
Frequently, the scale of risks underwritten is too great for one insurer to carry safely. In these circumstances, companies use reinsurance to mitigate their own risk exposure.
Specialist reinsurance companies take on part of the risk that insurers assume from their personal or commercial clients. They can do this by sharing the losses among several carriers in the event of a claim. For this service, the reinsurer is paid a share of the insurance premium in accordance with its level of participation in the risks.
But reinsurance is not just sought for large risks like power plants, but also for smaller risks for specific losses such as roof damage to houses. Such smaller losses – as occur after small tornadoes in Britain – while affordable individually could have a damaging impact on an insurance company when they occur in significant volumes.
A reinsurer therefore assumes individual risks or assumes risks en bloc – that is, a share in a large number of individual risks.
Because of the scale involved, reinsurance companies need to be adept at looking into the future, to identify new types of risks early. Many operate globally, with specialist experts looking at the impact – worldwide – of the latest developments in areas such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology and extreme weather events.
How to get a job in Reinsurance?
So you now want to work in reinsurance; the first think you would need to do is think about what role you want to pursue and get qualified. If you want to take on an actuarial role, then you would need to training with an insurance company and study towards the right qualification to become a qualified actuary. You can then gain more experience in the insurance industry before moving in reinsurance. There are some reinsurance companies that do hire graduates however, role are normally for experienced individuals in reinsurance.
To work as a broker or an underwriter in reinsurance, you would need to get experience as an insurance technician or a trainee broker where you then can get the right industry qualifications, such as from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), to work your way up. Depending on whether you have a degree or not, another way to become a broker can be joining a large insurance firm on a graduate training scheme. This will allow you to then gain experience in the industry and work your way up to reinsurance.
Reinsurance employers
Reinsurance companies are typically large, multinational organisations and many offer structured graduate-entry programmes that provide you with broad experience of the business before you begin to specialise. Examples of reinsurance companies include Lloyd’s of London or Munich Reinsurance Company.
Take a look at this graduate profile to get a better understanding of what it is like to work in reinsurance.