Senior Business Performance Analyst

I'm working with a FTSE100 Bank on a role within their Insurance business. The role is for a Senior Business Performance Analyst.

Role Purpose

• The role holder will own and deliver recommendations supported by strong analytics to help drive strategic decisions across life insurance manufacturing and insurance distribution operations. Through the delivery of well-considered and value-adding quantitative analysis to management the role holder will facilitate the development of solutions and strategies for the complex financial challenges faced by the business. The role presents every opportunity to connect throughout the organisation and dive into complex issues that will shape the future of the business.
• The role holder will build on an existing detailed knowledge of the insurance industry, leveraging external sources including broker reports, annual results from competitors and market surveys to enhance analysis. They will then be responsible for delivering the conclusions to senior stakeholders both within the Finance function and the wider business.
• The role holder will report to the Global Head of Business Finance but will regularly interact with the Global CFO and other Executive Committee members. The role will also cover the provision of effective decision support to the business on various ad hoc projects and will have primary responsibility for the review of business cases put forward.

Key Accountabilities

Impact on Business

• The role holder will act as a strategic analyst, reviewing business results and trends from Insurance as well as benchmarking these results against internal (e.g. other business lines) and external (e.g. peer insurance groups) comparators. This analysis will need to leverage finance data, actuarial data and commercial data from business systems. Experience of performing (or partnering closely with teams performing) life insurance actuarial calculations, including statutory reserving, economic capital and embedded value reporting is essential.
• Developing and implementing sustainable solutions to the capture of this additional commercial data will be a key part of the role and the role holder will also need to work closely with Finance Change Delivery in this regard.
• The role will have access to Analyst resource within the Global Finance team, including management responsibilities as required.
• The role will require good knowledge of insurance products and performance measures. Capital-related analysis will form a significant part of the role, as such a working knowledge of insurance solvency regulation (principally Solvency II) is required, together with a working knowledge of embedded value reporting metrics.
• The role will be extremely varied in terms of its activities and will require an adaptable and driven individual who is interested in and closely connected to business unit initiatives to market developments.

Customers / Stakeholders

• Effective partnering stakeholders across all functions, including the Chief Actuary teams, will be essential.
• It will be necessary to rapidly develop relationships and credibility with in-country business unit finance teams (including at CFO level) as well as with other Group Head Office teams including Strategy, Risk, (including actuarial), Distribution, Products and Operations.
• Excellent communication skills will be required to present results in a clear, informed and logical way, answering questions and debating results with Senior Management.

Skills Knowledge and Experience

• Professional Accountancy or Actuarial qualification
• Proven track record of applying analytical skills in a commercial context
• Strong financial or actuarial background, including understanding of corporate finance and financial markets
• Experience of performing (or partnering closely with teams performing) life insurance actuarial calculations, including statutory reserving, economic capital and embedded value reporting
• Strong academic record, including a good degree