The one thing you want to ask your colleagues but can’t.
Salary Progression
It’s the one thing you want to ask your colleagues but can’t: are you being paid fairly for your role?
IDEX have just released their 2016 General Insurance Salary Guide which shows salary expectations by region for insurance brokers. For commercial broking in London, brokers can expect to earn £30K+ for an Account Executive with 1–3 years experience and up to £70K with 9 years + experience [IDEX Consulting Salary Guide 2016] whereas Account Handlers are paid between £25-£50K dependent on experience.
These numbers start to drop outside of London and beyond the Home Counties. For SME brokers in the West Midlands the salaries for AEs range from £21-£45K and £16–30K for commercial AH, however these can increase for those working in the commercial/corporate sector.
Salary by region for account executives in commercial insurance broking
IDEX Consulting General Insurance Salary Guide 2016
Salary by Role
Larger and more specialist brokers divide brokers’ roles into Account Executives/Managers/Directors at various levels responsible for winning and retaining business with the clients, brokers responsible for placing the risks with underwriters and Account Handlers who support account administration and day-to-day client relations.
The client relations role can then be further divided between new business focused brokers and account executives/handlers focusing on renewals and day to day enquiries (with smaller account renewals increasingly being handled by call-centre teams). The advantage of this division of labour is a choice over whether to focus on the higher rewards of hunting for new business, or build longer term client relationships. A disadvantage is that you’re choosing between developing short term relationships or inheriting expectations set by others.
New Business Account Executive
New Business focused Account Executive roles are usually offered to candidates with at least a couple of years experience in insurance, typically in account handling for a broker. Salaries start at around £23,000 and can rise to £60,000 or more (higher in specialist London roles).
Taking on a new business role allows you to spend more time focusing on approaching and meeting with new potential clients and less time dealing with day-to-day enquiries with existing accounts.
Servicing Account Executive
Servicing Account Executives focus primarily on retaining an existing book of business and working with clients to identify areas they might wish to expand their coverage. The role represents a natural progression for Account Handlers willing to take on more responsibility but less oriented towards outbound sales.Salaries stretch towards £50,000 for experienced candidates at the high end, but tend to be concentrated at the lower end of the range.