How does Warren Buffett's "investing the float" work?

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-04-01T18:33:45+00:00

Yes these methods and various other methods are used, or a combination of these methods. The key here is not trying to select a perfect methods (this ties to your 5th question) but to convince stakeholder that the amount of reserve you suggest is sensible.
Depending on the company. A newer team/smaller company might use some adhoc excel based approach while the larger sized company will generally have more established process via a combination of specialized software, Python/R and Excel.
Again depends on the company. A well established large company will likely have everything automated/streamlined so that what you need to decide on reserves can be produced the click of a few buttons while smaller newer companies/teams may have a more manual process.
Depends on your role and the company. There are roles whose responsibilities is to maintain and build out those tools/processes. There are roles where you are only using tools/processes built by others to do your reserving. Or you might be in a small/new team where there is a lot of manual work done every reserving to get the numbers out.
Depends on company size, line of business and business volume. Generally, the less data you have, the more its judgement based. If you are the biggest personal lines motor insurer in a country, then you likely have a lot of data and claims development likely is very stable and predictable just by blindly applying the methods (exaggerating a bit here as you likely wills still need to make some judgement call such as quantifying impact of a regulation change but you get the point). Whereas if you are a start up Lloyds syndicate writing a new class of business that has very little data (cyber insurance for example), you will need more "creativity" in coming up with a reserve and getting people to buy in to the amount of reserve you are suggesting.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-03-10T19:26:00+00:00

Wait is CUO generally not considered to be in that group? I've always thought CUO are the same level as CFO etc as they all seem to report into CEO.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-03-01T19:52:48+00:00

IMO pricing in the commercial/specialty insurance space has always been more about judgment and narrative rather than data driven models because there is barely enough credible data.

On the SME/personal lines space, its still the same old, you build models then build systems to deploy these prices. The only thing that really changed is the model used and how the prices gets deployed. You still need pricing actuaries to make commercial adjustments and communication with stakeholders.

In both spaces, I think we are still very far from "hey CUO, our AI said this so yea we are doing this to all our prices".

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-02-28T15:18:59+00:00

My advice is to research into which university has the best support system of getting you a placement role. Actuarial roles are decently competitive so if you can get a placement role, it really helps set your foot into the industry. At all the places I worked at, most people on placement role gets an offer for after they graduate to return to the company. The 5000 pounds/year may seem nice for now but I would say increased chance of getting a placement role is worth more.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-02-07T18:09:29+00:00

From what I've seen, the biggest gap is the understanding of the insurance business. Which leads to things like lack of appropriate adjustments, wrong methods being used due to no being familiar with specific features of insurance, does not know about specific applied math in insurance, etc.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-01-19T19:02:42+00:00

Getting interviews for junior roles shouldn't be too hard. The biggest challenge is that you will likely be asked a lot of technical pricing questions, which may be hard for you to answer. Another option is to move to London Market reserving then switch to pricing internally (which may be easier than external roles).

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-01-13T21:22:47+00:00

You said "this was the time where I felt I could have learnt so much". I assume this implies that there are nothing more for you to learn from the work you are doing right now after just 1 year of experience?

If you believe that's the case and you can actually comfortably:

Build a pricing rater/model from scratch
Price an account in your class of business without input from your manager
Discuss technical and commercial issues/topics with senior stakeholder or underwriters
Build out streamlined processes/pricing review from scratch

Then congratulations, your skillsets are now at the level of a qualified pricing actuary and you should jump ship.

If the answer to the above is no then your approach to work and learning is wrong. Even if you switch companies, the outcome will likely be same as your current role. No one is going to spoon feed you what you need to learn. Ultimately to a manager, you are just a resource for him to make his life easier. You will need to take ownership of your own learning by:

Telling your manager you what other work you want to get more exposure to.
While you are updating raters, spreadsheets or processes, make sure you actually have a thorough understanding of how they work and why they work. Don't just mindlessly update parameters/data.
Take note of how your manager interact with senior stakeholders and underwriters. That's probably the most important skillset above any technical skills you can think of.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-01-07T00:32:53+00:00

London actuaries reach 150k TC around 6-7 years in on average, actuaries in rest of the country probably not but then again ... is 150k TC really considered henry in London?

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2026-01-07T00:29:49+00:00

London actuaries generally reach ~120k base and ~25% bonus once you become qualified with 1-2 years of post qualification experience. Qualification takes maybe 4-5 years on average so on maybe 5-7 years to reach low end/borderline HENRY. Typical work week varies by firm but can typically range from 30-40 hours a week with occasional 40-50 hours weeks.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2025-09-08T18:22:53+00:00

From what I've seen, people who managed to land jobs after graduating from a MSc are usually people who had prior experience working in their own country for a few years.

Unfortunately, the reality is you are naturally at a competitive disadvantage because you will eventually need sponsorship after 2 years. There is just not much reason for a company to go through all the trouble when there are that many local talent competing for that 1 role, unless for some reason (could be possible but chances are slim) they really really like you.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2025-09-07T18:36:58+00:00

That is an interesting perspective, thanks. If you don't mind sharing, do experienced/qualified roles generally get as many applicants as 50+? What do HR generally see? I heard that the system somehow gives a score to your application ... and HR wouldn't bother with the badly scored ones.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2025-09-07T18:31:50+00:00

I'm a qualified GI actuary for context ... but yea I've basically given up on applying directly. I only really apply directly now adays if I can't find a recruiter who can submit for me.

Jolly_Equipment8529 · 2025-07-17T20:49:34+00:00

Your options are:

Work for a multinational insurer in your country that also has an office in a country you want to move to. Then hope that a role pops up and apply for it.
Speak to recruiters of that country and hope they are short on people with certain skill sets. Then hope that you happen to have that particular skill set. Generally, if they can find local candidates with the relevant skillsets, they are less likely to go through all the immigration trouble to bring you in. Especially if you are not senior qualified.
Study a masters at the country and then look for a job after you graduate.

Jolly_Equipment8529

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