Insurance product manager

Description

Insurance product managers set and direct the development of new insurance products, following the product lifecycle policy and the general insurance strategy. They also coordinate the marketing and sales activities related to the specific insurance products of the company. Insurance product managers inform their sales managers (or the sales department) about their newly developed insurance products.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to insurance product manager:

insurance sales manager
assurance relationship manager
assurance office manager
insurance product development executive
assurance account manager
insurance lead
insurance office manager
ensurance relationship manager
assurance lead
ensurance branch manager
ensurance account manager
assurance branch manager
insurance relationship manager
ensurance sales manager
ensurance office manager
insurance account manager
ensurance lead
insurance product developer
insurance product development manager
assurance sales manager

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as insurance product manager. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

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 product manager is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Insurance product manager career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to insurance product manager.

insurance claims manager
banking products manager
credit union manager
actuarial consultant
investment fund manager

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of insurance product 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 product manager with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of insurance product manager.

Financial products: The different types of instruments that apply to the management of cash flow that are available on the market, such as shares, bonds, options or funds.
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.
Marketing management: The academic discipline and function in an organisation which focuses on the market research, market development, and the creation of marketing campaigns to raise awareness on the company’s services and products.
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.
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.
Sales strategies: The principles concerning customer behaviour and target markets with the aim of promotion and sales of a product or a service.
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.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of insurance product manager.

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.
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.
Manage financial risk: Predict and manage financial risks, and identify procedures to avoid or minimise their impact.
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.
Promote financial products: Inform existing or potential customers about the various financial goods and services that are offered by the company.
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.
Plan health and safety procedures: Set up procedures for maintaining and improving health and safety in the workplace.
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.
Develop financial products: Take into account the performed financial market research and the organisation’s objectives in order to develop and oversee the implementation, promotion, and lifecycle of financial products, such as insurance, mutual funds, bank accounts, stocks, and bonds.
Supervise sales activities: Monitor and oversee the activities related to the ongoing sales in the shop to ensure that sales goals are met, assess areas for improvement, and identify or solve problems that customers could encounter.
Analyse financial risk: Identify and analyse risks that could impact an organisation or individual financially, such as credit and market risks, and propose solutions to cover against those risks.
Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
Follow company standards: Lead and manage according to the organisation’s code of conduct.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance product manager. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Statistics: The study of statistical theory, methods and practices such as collection, organisation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data. It deals with all aspects of data including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments in order to forecast and plan work-related activities.
Modern portfolio theory: The theory of finance that attempts to either maximise the profit of an investment equivalent to the risk taken or to reduce the risk for the expected profit of an investment by judiciously choosing the right combination of financial products.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of insurance product manager. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Deliver a sales pitch: Prepare and deliver an understandably constructed sales talk for a product or a service, identifying and using persuasive argumentation.
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.
Develop investment portfolio: Create an investment portfolio for a customer that includes an insurance policy or multiple policies to cover specific risks, such as financial risks, assistance, reinsurance, industrial risks or natural and technical disasters.
Recruit employees: Hire new employees by scoping the job role, advertising, performing interviews and selecting staff in line with company policy and legislation.
Review investment portfolios: Meet with clients to review or update an investment portfolio and provide financial advice on investments.
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.
Ensure cross-department cooperation: Guarantee communication and cooperation with all the entities and teams in a given organisation, according to the company strategy.
Sell insurance: Sell insurance products and services to customers, such as health, life or car insurance.
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.

ISCO group and title

1223 – Research and development managers

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Insurance product manager – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022