Case One: Norwich Union
Norwich Union is part of the UK's largest insurance group, benefiting from the financial strength of Aviva plc and the backing of over £200 billion of assets under management (Aviva is a top-five European life insurer and the world's seventh-largest insurer).

The company currently employs approximately 85 actuarial students who are rotated throughout the various departments when required. When Norwich Union contacted The Emerald Group there was a need for 9 actuarial students with a minimum of 1 year’s experience. It was also anticipated that in total there would be opportunities for 20 staff. Norwich Union Life chose The Emerald Group as their only partner in their Actuarial Student recruitment process and the only company with which they would endorse a student recruitment advertisement.

Led initially by Jeff Deacon and Michael Doherty, both Directors, initial discussions established the technical qualities and experience required by Norwich Union Life. Their experience in Actuarial Recruitment made them ideal for Helen Vaulks to work with in clarifying the brief.

An official account manager was appointed once agreement was reached. We advised on the interview process, precise marketing of the roles and also ensured that each candidate submitted was interviewed in a thorough manner to determine suitability. Once satisfied, we then presented details of the opportunity and confirmed willingness to be considered.

We provided feedback, giving the candidate's views on the interview process, the organisation and the role with particular focus on any potential objections.

We discussed the final interviews and proposed offers to ensure that potential issues were addressed.

We are delighted to be associated with Norwich Union Life.

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Case Two: Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a market leader in providing financial advice and execution for institutional investors, corporations and governments around the world.

Morgan Stanley, in seeking to develop their Fixed Income Division, tasked us with sourcing an actuarial professional with particularly strong skills in complex financial and asset liability modelling for their insurance clients.

Following a thorough search of the market, focusing particularly on consulting firms in order to identify both the technical ability and the client facing skills, a significant number of suitable candidates were identified. We were then in position to submit a dozen very good quality CVs for consideration. 10 of these candidates were subsequently interviewed and ultimately a suitable person was identified for the post after rigorous assessment.

Success in dealing with this position alerted us to the fact that actuaries were sought by certain non-traditional clients for specific areas of their business. Subsequently we have been involved with a large number of assignments for investment banks and ratings agencies where those with a rare blend of technical, commercial and interpersonal skills are actively sought.

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