Insurance agency managers coordinate and oversee the operations of an institution or a branch of an institution that offers insurance services. They provide clients with advice on insurance products.
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Insurance agency manager is a Skill level 4 occupation.
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of insurance agency manager. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of insurance agency manager with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of insurance agency manager.
Business management principles: Principles governing business management methods such as strategy planning, methods of efficient production, people and resources coordination. Insurance law: The law and legislation concerning the policies of transferring risks or losses from one party, the insured, to another, the insurer, in exchange for a periodic payment. This includes the regulation of insurance claims and the business of insurance. Financial statements: The set of financial records disclosing the financial position of a company at the end of a set period or of the accounting year. The financial statements consisting of five parts which are the statement of financial position, the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity (SOCE), the statement of cash flows and notes. Financial management: The field of finance that concerns the practical process analysis and tools for designating financial resources. It encompasses the structure of businesses, the investment sources, and the value increase of corporations due to managerial decision-making. Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders. Accounting techniques: The techniques of recording and summarising business and financial transactions and analysing, verifying, and reporting the results. Financial analysis: The process of assessing the financial possibilities, means, and status of an organisation or individual by analysing financial statements and reports in order to make well informed business or financial decisions. Principles of insurance: Understand the principles of insurance, including third party liability, stock and facilities. Tax legislation: Tax legislation applicable to a specific area of specialisation, such as import tax, government tax, etc. Claims procedures: The different procedures that are used to formally request a payment for a suffered loss from an insurance company. Insurance market: The trends and major driving factors in the insurance market, insurance methodologies and practices, and the identification of the major stakeholders in the insurance sector. Types of insurance: The various types of risk or loss transfer policies that exist and their characteristics, such as health insurance, car insurance or life insurance.
These skills are necessary for the role of insurance agency manager.
Calculate insurance rate: Gather information on your client’s situation and calculate their premium on the basis of various factors such as their age, the place where they live and the value of their house, property and other relevant assets. Enforce financial policies: Read, understand, and enforce the abidance of the financial policies of the company in regards with all the fiscal and accounting proceedings of the organisation. Analyse market financial trends: Monitor and forecast the tendencies of a financial market to move in a particular direction over time. Strive for company growth: Develop strategies and plans aiming at achieving a sustained company growth, be the company self-owned or somebody else’s. Strive with actions to increase revenues and positive cash flows. Control financial resources: Monitor and control budgets and financial resources providing capable stewardship in company management. Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff. Provide cost benefit analysis reports: Prepare, compile and communicate reports with broken down cost analysis on the proposal and budget plans of the company. Analyse the financial or social costs and benefits of a project or investment in advance over a given period of time. Ensure compliance with company regulations: Guarantee that employees’ activities follow company regulations, as implemented through client and corporate guidelines, directives, policies and programmes. Create a financial plan: Develop a financial plan according to financial and client regulations, including an investor profile, financial advice, and negotiation and transaction plans. Advise on financial matters: Consult, advise, and propose solutions with regards to financial management such as acquiring new assets, incurring in investments, and tax efficiency methods. Develop an organisational structure: Create and develop the organisational structure of a group of people working together to realise the goals of the organisation. Analyse financial performance of a company: Based on accounts, records, financial statements and external information of the market, analyse the performance of the company in financial matters in order to identify improvement actions that could increase profit. Manage contracts: Negotiate the terms, conditions, costs and other specifications of a contract while making sure they comply with legal requirements and are legally enforceable. Oversee the execution of the contract, agree on and document any changes. Coordinate operational activities: Synchronise activities and responsibilities of the operational staff to ensure that the resources of an organisation are used most efficiently in pursuit of the specified objectives. Plan health and safety procedures: Set up procedures for maintaining and improving health and safety in the workplace. Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner. Create underwriting guidelines: Create guidelines for the assessment of risks and determining whether acceptance of liability and granting payments is worth the risk for the organisation. Develop improved methods of analysis which ensure that all aspects of the underwriting process are examined. Create insurance policies: Write a contract that includes all the necessary data, such as the insured product, the payment to be made, how often the payment is needed, the personal details of the insured and on what conditions the insurance is valid or invalid. Compile statistical data for insurance purposes: Produce statistics on potential risks such as natural and technical disasters and production downtimes. Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives. Align efforts towards business development: Synchronise the efforts, plans, strategies, and actions carried out in departments of companies towards the growth of business and its turnover. Keep business development as the ultimate outcome of any effort of the company. Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical. Identify clients’ needs: Identify the areas in which the client may require aid and investigate the possibilities for meeting those needs. Follow company standards: Lead and manage according to the organisation’s code of conduct. Make strategic business decisions: Analyse business information and consult directors for decision making purposes in a varied array of aspects affecting the prospect, productivity and sustainable operation of a company. Consider the options and alternatives to a challenge and make sound rational decisions based on analysis and experience.
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance agency manager. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Contract law: The field of legal principles that govern written agreements between parties concerning the exchange of goods or services, including contractual obligations and termination.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance agency manager. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Manage claim files: Follow up on the progress of a claim file, keep all parties informed of the status of the file, ensure the customer receives the damages owed, treat any problems or complaints from customers, close the file and give information to an authorised person or department when there is suspicion of fraud. Produce materials for decision making: Compile relevant data, write reports and occasionally prepare presentations to communicate information that will help the business management team to take decisions. Make investment decisions: Determine whether to buy or sell financial products such as fonds, bonds or stocks in order to enhance profitability and to reach the best performance. Represent the organisation: Act as representative of the institution, company or organisation to the outside world. Analyse claim files: Check the claim from a customer and analyse the value of the lost materials, buildings, turnover or other elements, and judge the responsibilities of the different parties. Analyse insurance needs: Gather information about the insurance needs of a client, and give information and advice about all possible insurance options. Recruit employees: Hire new employees by scoping the job role, advertising, performing interviews and selecting staff in line with company policy and legislation. Review insurance process: Analyse all documentation related to a specific insurance case in order to ensure that the application for insurance or the claims process was handled according to guidelines and regulations, that the case will not pose significant risk to the insurer or whether claims assessment was correct, and to assess the further course of action. Advise on investment: Assess the customer’s economic goals and advise on the possible financial investments or capital investments to promote wealth creation or safeguarding. Synthesise financial information: Collect, revise and put together financial information coming from different sources or departments in order to create a document with unified financial accounts or plans. Decide on insurance applications: Assess applications for an insurance policy, taking into account the risk analyses and client information, in order to deny or approve the application and set in motion the necessary procedures following the decision. Check accounting records: Revise the accounting records of the quarter and year and ensure that the accounting information reflects with accuracy the financial transactions of the company. Create cooperation modalities: Prepare, determine and agree on the conditions for cooperation contracts with a company, by comparing products, following evolutions or shifts in the market and negotiating terms and prices. Obtain financial information: Gather information on securities, market conditions, governmental regulations and the financial situation, goals and needs of clients or companies. Manage financial risk: Predict and manage financial risks, and identify procedures to avoid or minimise their impact. Coordinate marketing plan actions: Manage the overview of the marketing actions such as the marketing planning, internal financial resource granting, advertising materials, implementation, control, and communication efforts. Plan marketing campaign: Develop a method to promote a product through different channels, such as television, radio, print and online platforms, social media with the aim to communicate and deliver value to customers. Lead claim examiners: Select claim examiners and assign them to cases, assist them and give them advice or information when needed. Estimate damage: Estimate damage in case of accidents or natural disasters. Sell insurance: Sell insurance products and services to customers, such as health, life or car insurance. Analyse insurance risk: Analyse the probability and size of the risk that is to be insured, and estimate the value of movable or immovable property of the client. Supervise accounting operations: Coordinate, commission, and monitor operations in accounting departments in order to ensure the accurate record and eventual reporting of the financial operations of the company. Manage contract disputes: Monitor issues that arise between the parties involved in a contract and provide solutions in order to avoid lawsuits. Organise a damage assessment: Organise a damage assessment by indicating an expert to identify and examine the damage, give information and instructions to experts and follow up on the experts, and write a damage report. Perform market research: Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.
