How is working at an insurance company viewed by the Asset Management Industry?
Right now I work at a large Asset Manager (BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street) and I got an offer from an insurance company to work on the investment team. They pay is better and it is more aligned with what I want to do. My only question is how would working at an insurance company be seen by future employers? I would like to at one point transition to fixed income PM and I think this gives me good exposure to fixed income investing but I'm not sure what the exit opportunities are. Any insight?
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From what I know, investment teams in insurance companies typically deals with ALM (asset-liability management) or LDI (liability-driven investment) with heavy focus on actuarial part on the liability component. The perception is, you do everything you would have done in a traditional FI fund plus have experience working with actuarial concepts which would be a plus. I've seen folks jump ships back and forth between tradition FI fund to insurance investment teams so I don't think it would be a bad move? But I'd wait for someone in the industry to chime in first... I'm on the equity side in an AM and have some limited visibility into FI teams sitting beside our area...
Thank you, I appreciate the insight.
I work in the AM arm of one of the large life insurers.... work is essentially the same as what you would do in LO FI with the exception that you do work with the liability management team in terms of how new purchases fit in from a liability management perspective.... coming up on 5 years now and everyone I have seen leave has left to name brand shops (AllianceBernstein, Apollo/Athene, PIMCO, etc.) and whenever I have thought about looking for a new job I have had plenty of interest but have seen no reason to leave given extremely good work life balance, good comp albiet somewhat below street, sticky capital etc. Think it is also important to know exactly what you are doing and think about the group you are joining (Alts vs. RE vs. Corporate Credit vs. Structured Products etc.)... all in though they are great jobs that will give you real experience early in your career if you can land a gig at one of the big name insurers who run all the money in house.... also do your research on where you are applying given all that is going on with PE/Insurance AM arms (see AIG/BX asset management deal) so you want to be sure the AUM isnt going anywhere.... just my 2 cents.
I think the difference is probably that I am based in the United States and your in APAC.... I think almost everyone out there thinks the AM arms of the large North American and European insurers are very "real", they manage over $4 Trillion dollars.... Allianz owns PIMCO, I dont think anyone is saying PIMCO isn't "real"... think the differences are more cultural.... and I certainly am not saying Insurance AM is perfect by any means, there are pros (don't need to worry about raising capital, job stability, work/life balance) and cons (very rules based, LDI sleeves dont always generate best total return, etc.)
You are literally managing 'captive' money. Proper AM is a different ball game where you eat what you kill. There are some exceptions (AXA and subsidiaries like Pimco), but otherwise I would avoid insurance AM like the plague.
I was at an insurer for a few years on the equity side and now at traditional asset manager. I had no issue getting looks from some of the largest funds once I checked a couple other boxes on my resume that needed to be filled out. Sounds like it is a good next step for you and doors will not close from my experience.
Key differences to be aware of are you will most likely be under paid vs the same seat at AM. The trade off is the seat is very low risk and WLB very good. Capital base is permanent so you’re not stressing about flows and related not stressing about performance (though that isn’t to say that performance doesn’t matter). By definition that means there is less upside and less comp variability related to performance.
Either way, what is important is that you will be in an investing seat and learn practical skills that you need. You’ll also get a unique perspective sitting on the other side of the table vs at an AM
I would second this, per my above comment, work on the FI side but I have had zero problem getting looks from name brand AM Shops..... just have had no incentive to leave at this point given our comp is pretty solid (albeit slightly below street) , good work/life balance, sticky capital, job stability, etc.
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