An unexpected revelation

Alex studied Actuarial Science at Curtin university in Perth, Western Australia, before relocating to Sydney to take up his first corporate job in insurance, with Allianz.

  •  

    "Allianz is such a big, reputable brand with a great global reach. It is a household name not only through its insurance business but also its sponsorship of major sporting events, and the fact that they were prepared to take a chance on me, straight out of university, was so exciting. I knew that working at Allianz would expose me to its vast network and resources, to help develop my career."

     

     

From the very beginning, it’s been the continuous learning that keeps Alex engaged with his work and colleagues at Allianz.

“I started as a Pricing Analyst, which was a great introduction to working in a technical insurance role. The amount of learning opportunities and change that we’ve seen across the last eight years has been incredible. The innovations in data science and machine learning have had an immense impact on the way we work today; and things like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence will undoubtedly shape the way we work in the future. We’re always looking for ways to be more efficient with our processes, and how we can use newer and faster algorithms in pricing. It’s very dynamic, enjoyable work.”

An unexpected revelation

 

Alex says he first began to consider a career in pricing, through his recreational hobby, poker.

“Poker is all about taking calculated risks with limited information. It’s not too dissimilar to the job of a Pricing Actuary.  We have the opportunity to ask each customer only a limited number of questions during quotation but can leverage the millions and millions of rows of data to build a model, which generates an insurance premium that we think matches the needs of both the customer and Allianz.”

Allianz offers employees a variety of learning and development opportunities, of which Alex says he feels fortunate to have experienced.

“I’m a part of our leadership development program #lead, which gives you the fundamentals and frameworks to become a People Leader. I’ve also been lucky to learn from external development coaches that Allianz has offered, to build my leadership and problem-solving skills and confidence.”

  •  

    “The Allianz Group offers a structured Pricing Academy program, which has been developed through research to impart pricing best-practice across all the Allianz OEs operating entities around the world. That way, when we collaborate internally as a team, or even globally, we are able to use the same lingo and have familiarity of the same processes and methodologies.”

Eight years in, Alex is now the manager of the Motor Pricing team, leading a team of actuaries.


"This is my first role where I’m leading a team, and I love how I’m approaching the same projects from a brand-new perspective. When you’re starting out in your career, you’re focused on getting the job done efficiently and accurately. But as a People Leader, you’re still delivering on the same projects – but the focus is now on achieving the outcomes for your portfolio, while also building the capability of your team by setting expectations and making sure people are engaged and aligned on delivering the strategy."

Team culture is king, but first…coffee

 

“Having moved to Perth from Singapore, and now Sydney, my wife and I love living here. It’s a beautiful city, and we love exploring the city. We’re big foodies, we love coffee, so we’re always on the lookout for new and great places to check out. My team at Allianz are all foodies, so we’re always sharing about our new café and restaurant discoveries in our weekly meetings. We’re a friendly team with a great sense of camaraderie.  There’s no better feeling than working alongside great, supportive people who are good at their jobs, but also know where the best coffee can be found!”
CHECK OUT MORE STORIES