A shortage of actuaries to deal with Solvency II projects has forced the government to relax its visa rules, according to a UK based business technology recruiter.

Insurers must be in a position to provide regulators with their Solvency II implementation plans by the middle of 2013.

In September the Migration Advisory Committee’s review added actuaries to the government’s skills shortage list (National Occupation Shortage List), following evidence presented to the committee that demand for actuaries as a result of Solvency II had risen by as much as 40%.

Rethink says that a lack of candidates with Solvency II modelling experience has meant pay rises of up to 25% over the last twelve months for full time employees. According to Rethink, actuarial staff at director level can now earn up to £150k per year, with staff typically earning bonuses of up to 25%.

Guy Stubbing, director at Rethink Recruitment, says: “Contractor rates have rocketed over the last eighteen months and despite all expectations that these would fall, they have remained stubbornly high. Contractors are still commanding daily rates of over £1,100 in some cases, up from £900 last year.”

Rethink explains that insurers still have hundreds of outstanding job requirements for Solvency II staff needed to build and test the complex IT systems and models.

“This has created enormous demand for candidates with both actuarial and IT skills. The market is entirely candidate-driven and several job offers per candidate is the norm," Stubbing adds. “The relaxing of the visa rules obviously makes it easier to offer jobs to actuaries from outside of the EU but at this stage a lot of companies want actual Solvency II experience.”

“We are not expecting demand to weaken as there is still a huge amount of work that needs to be done before the deadline.

"There is also a dwindling pool of staff with actuarial or other relevant modelling skills as many have already been snapped up by the FSA and other regulatory bodies.”

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