Calculating Damages... Actuarial Work... Competition to Scout Insurance Experts (Comprehensive)

Issues in Risk Management of Insurers Amid Business Slump

Over 3,400 Loss Adjusters in 15 Non-Life Insurers

Actuaries Surpass 1,000 for the First Time

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Fubon Hyundai Life Insurance is recruiting experienced professionals in the Risk Management and Planning team until the 15th to handle investment risk management strategy formulation and planning tasks, as well as monitoring and managing investment asset risks. Preference will be given to those holding actuarial certifications. DB Life Insurance is also seeking experienced personnel responsible for product development and actuarial settlement until the 10th of this month.

Insurance companies have recently been focusing on securing specialized personnel such as loss adjusters and insurance actuaries. This trend reflects the growing importance of risk management alongside sales amid continued sluggishness in the insurance market. Possessing capable experts has become a crucial key to the mid- to long-term survival of insurance companies.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service and the insurance industry on the 9th, as of the end of last year, the number of loss adjusters employed by 15 domestic non-life insurance companies was 3,421, a 3.0% increase from 3,320 the previous year. While the number only slightly increased from 3,179 in 2016 to 3,191 in 2017, it has surged since 2018 (4.0%).

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance holds the largest number of loss adjusters among non-life insurers with 701. This is followed by Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance with 509, DB Insurance with 417, Hanwha General Insurance with 386, and KB Insurance with 352. The companies with the fewest loss adjusters are Ace Insurance and Cardis General Insurance, each with only 10.

Loss adjusters are responsible for assessing the amount of loss and insurance payouts when an insurance incident occurs. Since the payment of insurance claims can be objectively and fairly evaluated based on loss adjustment results, their numbers are expected to steadily increase to strengthen consumer rights. Independent loss adjusters, who perform loss adjustment tasks separately from insurance companies, are also expanding their roles.

Insurance companies have often either directly employed loss adjusters or outsourced the work to external firms. Consequently, there have been ongoing criticisms that this system has been abused as a means to deny or reduce insurance payouts.

Starting this year, consumers’ rights to appoint loss adjusters have been strengthened. Insurance companies must clearly explain the reasons when refusing a customer's request to appoint a loss adjuster, and in the case of indemnity health insurance, they must generally agree to the customer's request to appoint a loss adjuster. Additionally, standards for loss adjuster consent, the number of appointment requests, refusals, and reasons for refusals must be disclosed.

Alongside loss adjusters, insurance actuaries, another representative insurance qualification, are also on the rise. Last year, the number of actuaries working at 39 life and non-life insurance companies reached 1,026, surpassing 1,000 for the first time since insurance actuary statistics began. This represents a 5.1% increase from 976 the previous year.

Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance each have 126 insurance actuaries, followed by Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance with 72, DB Insurance with 66, Kyobo Life Insurance with 62, Hanwha Life Insurance with 55, and KB Insurance with 54.

On the other hand, Chubb Life Insurance (8), AIG General Insurance (8), DGB Life Insurance (7), Hana Life Insurance (7), IBK Pension Insurance (6), The-K Non-Life Insurance (5), Cardif Life Insurance (4), Kyobo Lifeplanet (4), MG Non-Life Insurance (4), AXA General Insurance (4), Ace Insurance (2), and Cardif General Insurance (1) each have fewer than 10 actuaries.

Insurance actuaries are experts who predict future risk probabilities and develop insurance products. They calculate and evaluate insurance companies’ income and reserves using actuarial statistical methods. The insurance industry anticipates that more than 3,000 insurance actuaries will be needed due to the new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS 17) introduced in 2022.

An industry insider said, "Insurance companies are not only actively supporting their employees to obtain loss adjuster or actuary certifications but also fiercely competing to scout verified talented personnel."