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INSURANCE / ACTUARIAL SCIENCES
Kalpana
Bajpai, an Administrative Officer (AO), at the National Insurance
Company finds her job interesting because "every claim has a
unique feature and every case demands a high degree of
responsibility". There is job variety, for instance,
opportunities to work in the field of computers, research and
development, etc. She derives immense job satisfaction in
"working for the people". Efficiency and integrity she
stresses are vital.
Insurance
is a contract to pay a premium in return for which the insurer will
pay compensations in certain eventualities e.g. fire, theft, motor
accident, etc. It works on the principle that
large number of persons pay into a common fund, but only a few
will need to draw the money out in compensation for a loss on
accident.
In
effect insurance spreads risks, so that loss by an individual is
compensated for at the expense of all those who insure against it.
Thus it has an important economic function.
The
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) and the Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC) are the two main agencies which recruit
Assistant Administrative Officers (AAO) Accounts or General every year.
With
the recent opening up of the insurance sector by the Government of
India to private and global players, the Insurance industry is
expected to witness phenomenal growth. The industry has opportunities
in marketing distribution, actuarial, underwriting operations and
investing departments. Insurance Institute of India and Institute of
Risk Management impart training for the work of underwriting, for
which medical and life science graduates are preferred. Surveyors,
licensed by the Controller of Insurance, can be engineers,
accountants, medical graduates, etc.
Some
top companies in the private sector are ICICI- Prudential, Om Kotak
Mahindra, Birla Sun-Life, Tata, Reliance, Dabur, HDFC Standard
Life-Insurance co. etc.
PUBLIC SECTOR
GENERAL
INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA
The
general insurance industry in India was nationalised in 1971 and a
government company known as General Insurance Corporation of India was
formed by the Central Government in
November 1972. It has four operating companies, namely, (i)
National Insurance Co. Ltd., (ii) New India Assurance Ltd., (iii)
Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. and (iv) United India Insurance
Co. Ltd. All the above four subsidiaries of GIC operate
all over
the country competing with
one another and underwriting various classes of general
insurance business including reinsurance
except for aviation insurance which is handled by the GIC. These four
subsidiary companies of GIC operate on an all-India basis through
regional, divisional and branch offices.
As compared to 799 offices in 1973, the network consisted of 4,263
offices as on 31 March, 1993.
G.I.C's
important insurance schemes are :
1)
Personal Accident Insurance Social Security Scheme for poor
families
2)
Hut Insurance Scheme for Poor Families in Rural Areas
3)
Medical Insurance Scheme - Mediclaim
4)
Videsh Yatra Mitra - this is a package policy for people going
overseas (was introduced in January 1998)
5)
Suhana Safar - this for the domestic travellers (also introduced in
January 1998).
6)
Personal Accident cover for the NRIs (launched in April 1998)
LIFE
INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA
Life
Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was established in 1956 to spread
the message of life insurance in the country and mobilise people's
savings for nation-building activities. L.I.C. with its central office
in Mumbai and seven zonal offices at Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Kanpur and Bhopal operates through 81 divisional offices in
important cities and 2000 branch offices. The corporation also
transacts business abroad and has offices in Fiji, Mauritius and the
United Kingdom. LIC is associated with joint ventures abroad in the
field of insurance namely, Kenindia
Assurance Company Limited, Nairobi, United Oriental Assurance
Limited, Kuala Lumpur and International Agencies Company Limited,
Eaharain. It has also entered into an agreement with the Sun Life
(U.K.) for marketing unit-linked life insurance and pension policies
in U.K.
Some
of the insurance schemes of L.I.C. are :
Group
Insurance, Individual Insurance, Housing Loans (under the LIC Housing
Finance Ltd.), LIC Mutual Fund Scheme, LIC Group Super nnuation
schemes etc.
THE WORK
LIC
deals with insurance of life whereas GIC deals with other aspects of
insurance such as car, marine, accident, medical and fire insurance.
The job begins with probation-cum-training period for six months where
the candidate is placed anywhere in the country in the branches of LIC
and GIC. The AAO can choose from three areas of operation i.e.
Administration, Accounts and Development.
Administration
deals with registry of claims till a certain permissible financial
limit. It deals with policy making with various clauses and details to
be checked into official returns and statements to higher region
offices are also a responsibility of the Administration network.
The
Accounts are more specialised and the AAOs here deal with management
of funds and their disbursal including staff salaries, etc.
The
Development Officer deals with marketing and procurement of business,
meeting prospective clients, promoting the policies and getting
contracts.
QUALITIES REQUIRED
The
work demands excellent communication skills as you deal with a wide
variety of people, some of whom are in distressing situations. On the one hand
you have to show sympathy where the claimants have suffered loss or
tragedy; on the other hand you need to be able to tell claimants
tactfully that their claims aren't valid and that the company won't be
paying. Efficiency is essential because a company's
reputation often rests on how promptly it pays out claims.
Fairness and integrity are also important.
TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
The
AAOs have a time bound promotion. Eligibility for promotion in the
Class I grade of officers is actually three years. But in reality,
promotions take place after 4 to 6 years of experience. Promotions
also depend on the number of vacancies at that time as well as the
growth of the corporation etc.
Administrative
Officers (AOs). Here they enjoy authority and financial powers. The
promotions and scales thereafter are regular. The job comes with
benefits like provident fund, house rent allowance, leave travel
concession (like LTC or LLTC) and even subsidised interest loans on
housing and purchase of vehicles.
PAY
SCALES FOR G.I.C. CLASS I OFFICERS
I.
General Manager : Rs. 12650 - 300
- 13250 - 350 - 13600 - 400
- 14000
II.
Assistant
General Manager : Rs.
11450 - 300 - 12650
III.
Manager
: Rs. 10450 - 250
- 11450
IV.
Deputy Manager :
Rs. 8070 - 230 - 9200 - 250 - 10450
V.
Assistant
Manager : Rs. 7360
- 230 - 9200 - 250 - 9950
VI.
Administrative Officer :
Rs. 5980 - 230 - 8970
VII.
Assistant Administrative
Officer : Rs. 4250
- 230 - 4940 - 350 - 5290 - 230 - 8510
Eligibility
for promotion in the Class I grade of officers is actually three
years. But in reality, promotions take place after 4 to 6 years of
experience. Promotions also depend on the number of vacancies at that
time as well as the growth of the corporation etc.
PAY SCALES OF
L.I.C. CLASS I OFFICERS
I.
Zonal Manager :
Rs. 11450 - 12650
II.
Deputy Zonal Manager :
Rs. 10450 -
11450
III.
Divisional Manager :
Rs. 8970 - 10450
IV.
Assistant Divisional
Manager : Rs. 7360
- 9950
V.
Administrative
Officer : Rs. 5980
- 8970
VI.
Assistant Administrative
Officer : Rs. 4250
– 8510
ENTRY REQUIREMENT
Eligibility
:
Graduate
with 50% marks
Age
: 21
years to 28 years (LIC) and 21 years to 26 years (GIC)
Pattern
of Examination :
Paper
I : Objective
type questions on English language, (with special emphasis on Grammer
and Vocabulary). Reasoning ability, Numerical ability and General
Knowledge as well as current affairs.
Paper
II :
Descriptive test on essay
and precis writing in English.
PRIVATE SECTOR
The
future prospects in the insurance sector are bright with the entry of
private insurance companies into the industry. Profiles of some
companies are given below:
ICICI Prudential
ICICI
Ltd. established in 1955 to provide project and corporate finance, it
has financed all the major sectors, covering 6,848 companies and
16,851 projects.
Prudential
plc founded in 1848, the largest life insurer in the UK is in 15
countries and has 10 million customers.
MAX
NEW YORK LIFE
Max
India Ltd. A major healthcare business with key strengths in North
India, its PAT grew from Rs. 176.5 crore in 98-99 to Rs. 37.2 crore in
99-00.
New
York Life founded in 1845, a Fortune 100 company.
HDFC
Standard Life
HDFC
Ltd. founded in 1977, it has provided financial assistance to 1.5
million homes. Asset base : about Rs. 15,000 crore. Financial Strength
: ‘AAA’ rating by CRISIL and ICRA.
Standard
Life Assurance – A leading insurer in the UK with around 4 million
customers in that country.
ROYAL
SUNDARAM
Sundaram
Finance – A leading Indian financial services company. Distribution
network : 95 branches. Depositors : 500,000.
Royal
Sun Alliance – One of the world’s largest insurers with 20 million
customers and presence in 50 countries.
TATA
AIG LIFE
Tata
Group – India’s largest business conglomerate. Revenues : $8
billion. Market leader in steel, commercial vehicles, electric power
generation and computer software.
AIG
The largest insurance and financial service company in the US, it
operates in 130 countries.
OM
KOTAK MAHINDRA
Kotak
Mahindra Finance – Boasting a customer base of 500,000, it has joint
ventures with Goldman Sachs for investment banking and Ford Credit
International for automobile finance.
Old
Mutual plc – An international financial service group based in
London.
SBI
LIFE INSURANCE
SBI
Standard as the Bank of Bengal in 1806, it now has a branch network of
14,000, and an aggregate deposit base of Rs. 196.821 crore.
Cardif
- Having come into being in 1973, it grew into a specialized insurance
company.
BIRLA
SUN LIFE
Aditya
Birla Group – India’s second largest business house. It has an
asset base of Rs. 18,000 crore. The group’s turnover exceeds Rs.
26,000 crore.
Sun
Life Financial – Its parent company Sun Life Assurance of Canada,
is known for its financial strength.
DABUR
CGU LIFE
Dabur
India founded in 1884, it is now India’s fifth largest FMCG company.
It has achieved a turnover of over Rs. 1,000 crore in 1999-2000.
CGU
- part of CGNU plc, which is a big UK insurer, it has approximately 15
million customers in 50 countries.
ING
VYSYA LIFE
Yysya
Bank – One of India’s largest private sector banks, with a
customer base of 2 million and 480 retail outlets.
ING
– The second largest life insurance company in the world, it has
recorded a net profit from insurance operations.
Institutes
offering courses
Actuarial
Society of India
Address
: 9 Jeevan Udyog,
278 Dr. D.N. Road Fort, Mumbai-400001.
Students
who have passed 10 + 2 or equivalent exam may register for the
Entrance examination with the Actuarial Society of India.
Generally
first class Graduates or Second class Post Graduates with Mathematics.
Statistics or Actuarial Science as a major subject, are considered for
exemption in Entrance Mathematics subject to certain conditions.
Eligibility
for Actuarial Examination : Passed 10 + 2 or equivalent with at least
85% in Mathematics/ Statistics (with recommendations from two Fellow
members of the Society) and English as the medium of instruction in
Plus Two or equivalent level.
Graduate
or Post Graduate with subjects like Mathematics. Statistics,
Econometrics, Computer Science, Engineering, MBA (Finance) and alike
besides Actuarial Science would be eligible provided the total marks
secured in the Mathematical Science taken together in all the years of
the degree course is not less than 55%. English must be the medium of
instruction of Graduate/ Post Graduate level.
Amity
School of Insurance and Actuarial Science
Address
: RBEF, E-27,
Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024.
Courses
:
-
1-month
Certificate course for Intermediaries in Life and Non-Life
Insurance as per guidelines of IRDA.
-
3-months
part-time Associate Degree of Life Offices Management Association
(LOMA), USA for gradates.
-
1-year
full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Insurance Management for
graduates.
-
1-year
Post Graduate Diploma in Insurance Management (Part time) in Life
or General Insurance.
-
3-year
part-time Post Graduate Diploma in Actuarial Science for First
class Graduate/ Second class Post Graduate in Mathematics /
Statistics / Student member of ASI.
Insurance
Institute of India
Address
: Universal Insurance Building, 6th Floor, Sir P.M. Road,
Mumbai-400001.
Courses
: Conducts
qualifying examinations at three basic levels : Licentiate,
Associatesship and Fellowship as also introductory examinations –
Inspectors and Certificate in Insurance Salesmanship. It is the only
professional insurance institute in India.
College
of Insurance
Address
: Gresham
Assurance House, 4th Floor, Near R.B.I., Sir P.M. Road,
Mumbai – 400001
It
is the training wing of the Insurance Institute of India.
Institute
of Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters
Address
: General
Assurance Building, 2nd Floor, 232, Dr. D.N. Road,
Mumbai-400001.
Surveyors
(to be licensed by the Controller of Insurance) may be engineers,
accountants, medical graduates, other graduates , etc.
Birla
Institute of Management & Technology
Address
: Pushpa Vihar,
Sector-IV, New Delhi-110017.
Course
: Post
Graduate Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management (PGDIRM)
Eligibility
: Bachelor’s
degree or CA/ ICWA/ CFA/ CS.
One
year experience is a must for the part-time course.
The ICFAI School
of Finance and Management
Address
: 38, Nagarjuna Hills, Punjagutta, Hyderabad – 500082.
Course
: ·
MBA-Insurance programme.
NIMT
(affiliated to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra),
Address
: G.T. Road, Opp. Indira Priyadarshini Park, Near Hindon River Bridge,
P.O. Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad (U.P.)
Course
: PG in Insurance & Risk Management (PGDIRM) through
Distance Learning Programme/ Regular/ Part-time for graduates.
Increasingly,
management institutes are offering insurance management as a
specilisation in their management programme.
Narsee
Monji Institute of Management,
Address
: Vile
Parle, Mumbai
Course
: P.G.
Diploma in Insurance Management
Jaipuria
Institute of Management,
Address
: Vineet
Khand, Gomtinagar, Lucknow
Course
: PG
Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management
Other
Colleges / Institutes offering courses in Insurance :
College
of Vocational Studies,
Delhi University, Sheikh Sarai –II, New Delhi 110017
Directorate
of Distance Education,
Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu
Tolani
Institute of Management Studies,
PB No. 11, Adipur, Kachch 370205, Gujarat
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