Expertise Insurance, Reinsurance & Social Protection Recruitment

Cabinet de recrutement spécialisé assurance, réassurance et protection sociale. Actuariat, souscription, gestion, direction générale et Comex.

Recrutement Assurance, Réassurance et Protection sociale

Life and P&C insurers, mutual insurers, provident institutions, brokers, reinsurers, insurtechs, third-party administrators and other specialist insurance providers: Haussmann Executive Search recruits across the full insurance and social protection ecosystem in France.
We support executive leadership teams and Executive Committees, as well as the technical functions specific to insurance — actuarial, underwriting, claims, risk management and operations — together with commercial and distribution functions and all corporate support functions.
Our coverage also includes business unit leaders, whether market directors, regional directors or operational unit heads, as well as the specialist profiles essential to regulated insurance activities.

Recruiting an actuary requires a precise understanding of the expertise involved: product pricing, financial closing, modelling and the specific needs of the client — across Life, Non-Life and other lines of business. Identifying a Director of Large Risks Underwriting requires an entirely different approach from recruiting a Director of Health Claims Operations for a mutual insurer.
Insurance brings together highly specialised professions governed by a demanding prudential framework, including Solvency II, IDD and insurance-specific GDPR requirements. Talent pools are often narrow and mobility is highly structured.
Our sector specialisation enables us to define each assignment as closely as possible to the specific requirements of the role.

Organisations We Support

The insurance sector encompasses a wide range of organisations with distinct business models, all of which we support.

Insurance Companies & Groups

Life insurance companies: savings, retirement and individual protection
Non-Life insurers: personal and commercial P&C, large risks, construction, transport and credit
Integrated Life and Non-Life insurance groups
Bancassurers and insurance subsidiaries of banking groups

Social Economy & Social Protection

Mutual insurers operating under the French Mutuality Code
Health mutuals and complementary health insurers
Social protection groups covering supplementary pensions, collective protection and social action
Provident institutions operating under the French Social Security Code

Reinsurance & Specialist Markets

Life and Non-Life reinsurers
Reinsurance brokers
Specialist markets, including Lloyd’s and syndicates

Broking & Distribution

Generalist insurance brokers
Specialist brokers covering large risks, corporate and affinity markets
Brokerage networks and distribution platforms
General agents and salaried distribution networks

Insurtech & New Entrants

Insurtechs and ne insurers
Digital insurance and comparison platforms
MGAs (Managing General Agents) and disruptive insurance players

Captives & Industrial Risk

Insurance and reinsurance captives of major industrial groups
Insurance and risk departments within corporates

Other Ecosystem Players

Actuarial consulting firms
Loss adjusting and technical risk assessment firms
Assistance companies

Executive Leadership & Executive Committee

Executive leadership has historically been at the heart of our insurance practice.
We support Executive Committees and Boards across the full range of executive positions, whether in replacement, transformation or new-entity creation contexts.
The specific characteristics of the insurance sector have a significant impact on the leadership profile required. An insurance executive combines a strong business and commercial perspective with a detailed understanding of technical results and profitability by segment, a solid grasp of prudential requirements and regulatory relationships, and the ability to engage effectively with Board members within often complex governance structures, including mutual governance bodies, joint Boards and social protection governance committees.

Positions Covered

Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Management Board Members
Deputy Managing Directors responsible for a business line or market
Management Board Chair and Executive Chair
Business Unit Directors and Market Directors

Technical Insurance Functions: The Core of the Business

Technical functions are a defining feature of insurance and represent a significant part of our activity.
They require quantitative, legal and management expertise developed over several years, within talent pools that are often particularly limited.

Actuarial

Chief Actuary and Head of Actuarial
Life, Non-Life, Health and Protection Actuaries
ALM and Asset-Liability Management Actuaries
Product and Pricing Actuaries
Reserving and Provisioning Actuaries
Solvency II Actuaries, including Internal Model, ORSA and Key Functions

Underwriting

Chief Underwriting Officer / Head of Underwriting
Large Risks, Corporate and Affinity Underwriters
Specialist Underwriters covering construction, transport, cyber, professional liability and financial lines
Underwriting Policy Managers

Claims & Operations

Claims, Policy Administration and Benefits Directors
Head of Claims Management
Head of Health and Protection Benefits Management
Insurance Operations Directors

Risk Management & Solvency II Key Functions

Chief Risk Officer / Risk Director
Actuarial, Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Audit Key Functions
Risk Managers and ORSA Coordinators

Technical Direction & Risk Expertise

Technical Directors
Reinsurance Strategy Managers
Head of Underwriting / Risk Exposure
Prevention and Risk Assessment Directors
Industrial and Large Risks Inspectors

Asset Management & Real Estate for Insurers

Insurers and social protection institutions are among France’s largest institutional investors, across both public and private asset classes.
We cover asset management and real estate functions within insurance companies, mutuals and social protection groups, working closely with our Asset Management, Real Estate and Private Equity & Infrastructure practices.

Positions Covered

Chief Investment Officers and Deputy Managing Directors responsible for investments
Asset Management Directors
Strategic Asset Allocation Heads
Institutional Real Estate Heads
Private Markets Heads covering Private Equity, Private Debt and Infrastructure
Portfolio Managers covering Fixed Income, Equities and Multi-Asset

Commercial, Marketing & Distribution Functions

Insurance is as much a distribution business as it is a technical one.
We recruit across commercial functions, distribution network leadership and the marketing and product functions that shape the customer proposition.

Positions Covered

Commercial Directors and Business Development Directors
Distribution and Network Directors
Sales Network Management and Development Directors
Partnerships and Key Account Directors
Marketing, Product and Customer Experience Directors
Sales Force Training Directors
Directors responsible for Corporate, Retail and SME clients

Corporate & Cross-Functional Functions

Corporate functions within insurance have significant specificities arising from prudential regulation, complex accounting requirements — including IFRS 17, French GAAP and Solvency II reporting — and a highly regulated operating environment.

Positions Covered

CFOs and Finance Directors of insurance companies and mutuals
Technical and General Accounting Directors
Consolidation and IFRS 17 Reporting Directors
Financial Control Directors
Treasury and Corporate ALM Directors
Internal Audit Directors
Compliance and Permanent Control Directors
AML/CFT and Ethics Managers
CIOs and Digital Transformation Directors
Business Transformation / Project Management Directors
Human Resources Directors

New Structures & Team Building

We regularly support clients creating new structures, whether subsidiaries, new entities resulting from corporate transactions, insurtech platforms entering their scale-up phase or industrial captives being established.

These assignments require several profiles to be recruited within tight timelines, while ensuring team coherence and regulatory compliance from day one, including ACPR licensing, Solvency II governance and the appointment of Key Functions.

Our ability to conduct multiple searches in parallel across complementary functions is one of the strengths clients particularly value in these situations.

Insurance sector – Haussmann Executive Search

Insurtech & Digital Transformation

Insurtechs and ne insurers have reshaped the market in just a few years, with business models ranging from direct digital broking to fully licensed insurance businesses, including MGAs and affinity platforms.
We recruit both for these new entrants, seeking profiles that combine technology culture with insurance expertise, and for established players developing their digital transformation strategies and partnerships across the ecosystem.

Capabilities We Assess

Beyond career history, we assess candidates against the fundamentals of the insurance business:

Understanding of technical results and the relationship between premiums, claims and expenses
Strong command of the prudential framework, including Solvency II, Pillar 1 capital requirements, Pillar 2 governance and Pillar 3 transparency
Ability to engage effectively with regulators, including ACPR and AMF where activities intersect with asset management
Understanding of the sector’s specific accounting standards
For international roles, knowledge of neighbouring markets and their specific characteristics, including Lloyd’s, the Irish market and the German market

Our Value Proposition in Insurance

Our work in insurance is built on four complementary strengths.
First, a detailed mapping of a sector whose complexity requires us to distinguish between insurers, mutuals, provident institutions, brokers, reinsurers and insurtechs, each with their own codes, market dynamics and talent flows.

Second, integrated coverage of technical, commercial, corporate and asset management functions, enabling us to support both individual searches and complete team builds.

Third, our close connection with other Haussmann Executive Search practices — particularly Asset Management, Real Estate and Private Equity — gives us access to valuable cross-sector talent pools for investment and real estate functions within insurance organisations.

Finally, direct search is essential in a market where technical and leadership profiles are scarce, often less mobile, and where career moves frequently need to be prepared several months in advance.

Partnerships and Events

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