My current role is an Actuarial Analyst in the Commercial lines team. I joined in September 2019 after completing a Summer Internship in the Speciality team in 2018. My main responsibility is performing quarterly reserving on the Liability lines of business. This is a process to predict future claims that Allianz will receive to ensure that enough capital is held to be able to pay these claims. Aside from this, I also produce financial reports and perform ad-hoc analyses.

As Allianz is one of the largest insurers in the world and one of the most well-known brands globally, working here offers a fantastic insight into the insurance industry. There are many opportunities to develop your skills and to learn from more experienced people within the business. The Actuarial Department produces technical analyses which are used widely throughout the business to drive decisions and solve problems. There is also strong study support available for graduates to work towards becoming a fully qualified Actuary.

The application process consisted of a written application, online numerical and verbal tests, a telephone interview with a member within the Actuarial team and finally a face to face interview with managers in the Actuarial team. The interviews were mainly competency based with some general questions about the insurance industry and Actuarial work. Although the interviews were daunting, they provide a great opportunity to get to know current members of the team and ask questions about Allianz.

A normal day in my role would generally consist of discussions with colleagues on current projects and working on projects. This could be building a model, performing analysis and updating model parameters or coding work, for example, writing a program to perform analysis or produce visualisations of data. We also have regular catch-ups and team meetings to stay connected with other members of the team. We frequently collaborate with other departments within Allianz such as the Underwriting and Claims teams.

I think that the Insurance industry in general is interesting due to its variety and complexity. Insurance is affected significantly by current economic trends and events meaning that it is constantly evolving. Working in Insurance gives you a better idea of the impact of financial events on the local and international economy. Working in the Actuarial team provides opportunity to apply statistical techniques to solve real world problems, using tools such as Excel, R and SAS as well as specialist Actuarial software. One example would be trying to quantify the impact of Covid-19 on the insurance industry and how it might affect different parts of the business.

Allianz is a strong supporter of charity work and graduates are given the opportunity to work with other graduates to organise events to raise money for charity. Furthermore, there are regular social events organised both by the Actuarial team and by the Graduate Committee which allow you to develop your network within the business.

One of the surprising things I have found is that even as a graduate in the Actuarial team, you will be given the opportunity to work with senior managers and leaders across Allianz. You can see how the work you do is valued and directly impacts business decisions.