Why the Central Bank may struggle to attract good actuaries
The Central Bank of Ireland is starting a new recruitment spree, this time focusing on bolstering its insurance supervisory team. Among the new hires will be a team of actuaries, but salary constraints mean it will struggle to attract top talent.
Matthew Elderfield announced the plans to take the Central Bank's insurance regulatory headcount to 113 by the end of this year at the European Insurance Forum, held in Dublin on Sunday.
It's also planning on expanding its team of actuaries to 15 by the end of the year. There's a heavy weighting towards recruiting trainees - there will be 8 qualified actuaries and 7 trainees in the team by the end of 2011. Part of the reason for this could be that actuaries are expensive, and the Central Bank doesn't have particularly deep pockets.
"Although the regulator has been successful in recruiting actuaries, salaries there are uncompetitive and for that reason they may struggle to hire in the future," says Paul Walsh, CEO of Dublin-based actuarial recruiters Acumen Resources. "They also don't pay bonuses, which is another hurdle to get over."
Actuarial recruitment is in the rare position of being extremely buoyant in Ireland at the moment. Not only are insurance firms recruiting for full-time positions, but increasing numbers of actuaries are taking lucrative contractor roles related to Solvency II requirements. These roles can pay up to €2,000 a day for senior positions.
"The type of person who tends to go for roles at the regulator is someone who might otherwise struggle on the open market," claims one actuarial recruiter. "Usually someone abroad who doesn't have the relevant experience to get a job practising, or someone with a young family looking for a 9-5, flexible working environment."
The regulator is, however, recruiting actuaries across a range of different experience levels. It is matching the €40k usually paid for junior staff, suggest recruiters, but will struggle to exceed the €120k being paid on the open market for senior managers.
"The fact is that money shouldn't be the only motivation for taking a role at the regulator," adds Walsh. "It's a period of change, so will look great on your CV and is a good way to build up contacts if you have aspirations to work on a consultancy basis."
