A culture of development and opportunity
Upon finishing university, Sally began her career in insurance, working in Actuarial Reserving and Capital Modelling for a small insurer, before moving on to Reinsurance. But it was her desire to learn more about Pricing- another side to the traditional actuarial function- that really excited her, and that’s why she chose Allianz.
“I had enjoyed the areas of traditional actuarial work I’d done previously, but I really wanted to learn more about Pricing, so when the opportunity came to join Allianz and work in the Pricing of Commercial Long Tail business, I was really excited. I felt the skills I’d gained previously in Reserving would transfer well, in particular for long tail lines, and I really enjoyed the challenge.”
After a couple of years honing her skills in Commercial Long Tail Pricing, Sally took some time out of work to start a family. Whilst on parental leave, Sally’s People Leader kept in touch with her and they spoke about ways Sally could develop in her career when the time came for her to return to work.
“It was great to keep in touch with my Leader while I was on parental leave; for me, that connection to my work and colleagues made the transition back to work that much easier. When I was due to return to work, I was eager to try something different, and it felt like a mini fresh start being able to return to a new role, a new team and learn new skills.”
As part of the Compulsory Third Party Pricing team, Sally was able to broaden her experience in a new line of business, which she says was a great development opportunity for her.
“I found working in CTP Pricing extremely interesting and quite different to any of my previous roles. As CTP is a regulated product, it brings a whole set of new challenges, which was a great way to learn and become more familiar with other areas of the business and the insurance market.”
It’s the continuous learning and career development at Allianz that has really engaged Sally, who’s taken part in several development initiatives, including our global learning Academy for our technical team, and our #lead program, which helps to shape our future People Leaders into collaborative and nurturing mentors.
“The Academy is a structured learning program created by Allianz Group that takes you through the basics of technical pricing skills such as data preparation and risk modelling, all the way through to machine learning techniques and best practice in natural perils pricing. It’s great that we have the experience and resources of Group to complement our local knowledge. As the whole team goes through this foundational training, you all have a consistent understanding and set of skills, which is a great base as the team evolves. With all the developments in areas such as AI and machine learning, we’re always learning and adapting which is really rewarding.”
Sally is confident that opportunities and further career development are on the cards, not just for herself, but for anyone looking to work for an insurer that offers genuine career progression.
“Allianz is such a big company, so there are lots of opportunities to explore and take advantage of. I truly believe that if you’re serious about taking your career further, then the culture of development here is for you. You’re empowered to be open-minded and self-driven to pursue a future you see for yourself, aligning your learning with your career goals. You’ve got a genuine opportunity to pursue your aspirations, so Allianz is a really exciting place to be in.”
