WHERE THERE IS HIRING: Technical accountants for insurance companies

Even though Solvency II implementation may now be delayed until 2014, recruiters insist there's still strong demand for accountants who know about it.

Matthew Strover, a recruiter specializing in insurance at Eximius Group, says there's distinct demand for both technical accountants with an insurance background and for actuaries with life insurance skills to work in capital management roles in insurance companies.

According to Strover, there was a 30% increase in vacancies for such people in the first half of 2011 versus the same period of 2010.

Neutan Joshi, an insurance recruiter at Hays, confirms technical accountants' comparative popularity. "People are looking for Solvency II technical accountants to put the systems in place," she says. "They can be quite expensive. If they are really, really good at what they are doing, they are probably on 800 a day."

Strover says technical accountants working in capital management roles in insurance companies can earn up to 2k as a daily rate or 170k on a permanent salary. They're needed to help insurers understand how to allocate capital effectively to different insurance lines under the new rules, he informs us.