Economist

About Swiss Re

About the Role

The target candidate will take a Vice President or Assistant Vice President role depending on individual’s competency and skillset.

The role of Economist – Insurance analyst in Group Economic and Sigma Research (GE&SR) with a focus on China market is an opportunity to work with industry experts within Swiss Re Institute on global research projects with a tangible business impact. Based in Beijing, a qualified candidate should have strong analytical and research capability with a deep understanding about Chinese economy and re/insurance market development. In the context of global economic growth while closely working with local colleagues, you should be capable to generate insights on the trends of re/insurance market, identify new risk pools in China and provide strategic views for insurance business development through analytical research. Your role will be responsible in providing insurance growth forecasts and in-house views for China market to support GE&SR's global projects. Your role will also support Swiss Re's business development from global to China by working closely with Swiss Re's business units across regions. Depending on your expertise knowledge, you will be involved in various local and global research projects and lead several China-specific research activities. The role is a unique, broad and exciting professional growth opportunity with an excellent development potential given frequent exposure to senior management and other teams across the Swiss Re Group and local branch. As such, you will contribute to shape strategic development and reinforce Swiss Re's thought leadership in China. You should expect a dynamic environment and should be able to demonstrate high accountability, self-responsibility, high efficiency and agility in your daily work.

Key tasks and responsibilities include:

• Generate in-house views on China's economic and insurance market growth, trends and key development, by closely monitoring and assessing economic dynamics, policy and regulatory developments in China.
• Estimate growth forecasts for China re/insurance market as well as for major line of business, and manage China data maintenance for Swiss Re sigma database.
• Support Swiss Re's thought-leadership topics and client outreach by co-authoring high-quality publications, including Swiss Re's sigma, Expertise Publication, Economic Insights, etc; and preparing visually appealing presentations.
• Lead China-focused research projects in China, with guidance from China Chief Economist. This requires strong analytical and research capability, excellent coordination skills with multiple business functions and peers across regions, and robust writing skills in Chinese and English.    
• Prepare briefing and input materials for Swiss Re's Group and local senior management for public events.
• Draft written report for irregular tasks e.g., from regulator, senior management, and client managers, related to economic and insurance market development topics in China.
• Support Group Chief Economist and China Chief Economist on various ad-hoc tasks.

About the Team

Group Economic & sigma Research (GE&SR) is responsible for analysing and forecasting the global macroeconomic and insurance market environment. GERS holds a crucial role in steering Swiss Re's capital allocation for both sides of the balance sheet. The team also drives thought leadership on topics of strategic importance for the Group and helps shaping the policy dialogue and outcome. GERS is responsible for Swiss Re's flagship sigma publication series under the brand of Swiss Re Institute.

GE&SR China team is located in Beijing and collaborates closely with Swiss Re's multiple business units locally and within GE&SR across global regions. Swiss Re embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We further collaborate in a flexible working environment, providing all of our employees with a compelling degree of autonomy to decide how, when and where we work most effectively.

About You

• A Master degree in Economics or related fields is required. A degree from another field is also possible, though solid knowledge in Economics/Insurance is required.
• At least 7 years of work experience in economic/insurance industry or research field is required.
• High responsibility for the quality and accuracy of your deliverables.
• Strong research and analytical capability – ability to build up structured research report with solid analytical rationales and data evidence. Ability to focus on details without losing track of the bigger picture.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both Chinese and English - able to communicate effectively with senior managers and with colleagues from different backgrounds.
• Proficiency in MS Office applications (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) is required.
• Deep understanding about econometrics and related tools is an advantage.
• Internationally focused and highly motivated with a can-do attitude; dedication to continuous learning and willingness to challenge and improve the status quo.
• Very agile, open-minded and strong team spirit giving respect to others and ability to work under tight timelines.
• Mature and proactive; showing a high degree of own initiative.
• Ability and enthusiasm to work in a global and multicultural environment.