At Laz Partners, we’ve spent the past several years supporting some of the most well-respected players across the buy-side, sell-side, and insurance world - and we’ve seen first-hand how the demand for specialist insurance investment talent has grown year after year.
From our experience partnering with top-tier alternative investment managers for their insurance-related investment hiring, through to building out solutions teams for asset managers and credit investment functions within insurers, the trend is clear: this part of the market has shifted from being specialist and relatively contained, to one of the fastest-growing and most competitive areas across all of front-office investments
Below are a few observations based on the work we’ve been doing across this space.
Compensation Is Increasing Rapidly - and the Market Has Changed
A few years ago, insurance investment teams were often regarded as slower-moving, lower-comp environments. That’s no longer the case for many parts of the market and some of the reasons include:
- Large-scale capital inflows into the insurance space, especially from alternative investment managers
- Major M&A and consolidation activity, particularly across the life and annuity space
- Increasingly complex (and shifting) regulatory regimes and growing appetite for private credit and structured assets
These trends have driven a significant uplift in compensation for investment professionals with deep insurance expertise. In many cases, total packages for some roles have risen 40–60% over the past 18–24 months - particularly for those in advisory, structuring, private credit/structured credit, and solutions-oriented roles.
Who’s Hiring – and Where We’re Seeing the Most Movement
1. Tier-1 Alternative Investment Managers: Firms like Apollo (one of our closest partnerships), KKR, Blackstone, Brookfield, Ares, and Carlyle Group have been building out insurance platforms and are investing heavily in solutions, structuring, origination, and portfolio management functions, across public & private markets. Their ability to offer both scale and competitive economics puts them in a strong position.
2. Tier-1 U.S. Asset Managers: These firms remain highly respected and competitive, however we’re seeing many lose top talent to the alternative investment managers - often due to compensation differentials that are difficult to bridge. In response, they’re increasingly backfilling from the broader market: sell-side, insurers, asset managers, and consultants.
3. Sell-Side Institutions: There’s been a noticeable investment into insurance-focused structuring, advisory, and solutions teams, with compensation stepping up meaningfully. For some roles, pay is now on par with other revenue-generating functions - making this an increasingly attractive area for talent who bring technical depth, commercial awareness, and/or investment/markets experience across multiple insurance regulatory frameworks.
4. UK and European Asset Managers: Tier-1 US Asset Managers continue to hold their ground, however UK and European managers are beginning to fall behind. Many are finding it challenging to retain talent or scale teams at pace due to platform and cost limitations, as well as limited resources to compete with some of the top players in the market.
5. Insurers: Many are building up their in-house investment teams, focusing on portfolio management and in-sourcing previously externally managed allocations. While compensation may not match the top of the market, some insurers are positioning themselves well by focusing on strong work-life balance, culture, and longer-term incentives.
6. Consultancies (e.g., Mercer, WTW, Redington): Advisory teams remain important players, however several have experienced talent leakage and a lot of trouble in back-filling roles (due to a talent shortage and upward comp pressure) - often losing top individuals to the buy side or to insurers looking to bring capability in-house.
We’re also seeing a number of larger hedge funds exploring opportunities in the insurance solutions space - aiming to build differentiated offerings for insurers and expand revenue lines in the process.
Roles and Skill Sets in Highest Demand
Across all platforms, the following profiles are generating the most interest and commanding significant premiums:
- Insurance Solutions/Advisory Professionals who understand how to manage/advise on the optimisation insurance balance sheets under different regulatory regimes and who can advise on strategic asset allocation (SAA) and portfolio construction in the context of insurer constraints, while also in some instances having asset class specific experience (eg. private debt/structured credit) from an insurance perspective.
- Private Debt & Structured Credit: Talent with experience originating or managing private debt portfolios for insurers, particularly where structured credit expertise is involved, is in short supply and high demand.
- Structuring (Buy Side and Sell Side): Individuals who understand how to optimise portfolios for capital treatment, liquidity, and regulatory constraints. This includes those with experience in rates structuring for insurers (for example), as well as professionals focused on private and structured credit structuring with insurer-specific applications in mind.
- Portfolio Managers: Especially those who can deploy capital into private and structured credit, or other alternative credit asset classes, with a clear understanding of risk, capital treatment, and long-term suitability for insurance mandates. There is also still demand for Buy & Maintain Credit talent, however, this is a more mature market with less movement than previous years, as the focus shifts more towards private credit/structured credit.
- Client Relations/Investment Specialists: Commercially strong professionals with deep insurance knowledge, who can advise and engage with insurers across regulatory regimes.
- Insurance Quants: Teams are increasingly hiring technical specialists who can build and validate capital models, run scenario analysis, and apply this work to real investment decision-making.
Individuals with cross-jurisdictional experience - Solvency II (Standard Formula or MA), Bermuda, and NAIC - remain particularly valuable.
Culture vs Compensation – What’s Driving Moves Today
While headline compensation is certainly a factor, we’re seeing more talent than ever prioritise quality of life, team culture, and long-term alignment.
Many are opting to step away from the highest-comp platforms in favour of roles where they can:
- Work more flexibly
- Take on broader responsibility
- Operate at a sustainable pace
In some cases, we have seen candidates accepting 30–40% lower comp than their market potential - while still being well-paid - in return for greater work-life balance and long-term career stability. Typically, these firms would be insurers, UK & European Asset Managers, and consultancies.
What’s Next – Asia and Beyond
The U.S. and Europe continue to lead in terms of activity and hiring. But there are signs that Asia is becoming the next focus. Global platforms are beginning to explore how best to adapt insurance investment models to local regulatory and market dynamics.
Final Thoughts
At Laz Partners , we’re proud to support clients across all sides of this fast-growing market - from alternative managers and global asset managers, to insurers and advisory firms.
We’re currently working with exceptional talent and hiring managers across:
- Insurance Solutions & Advisory
- Private Credit & Structured Credit
- Structuring (Buy Side and Sell Side)
- Client Relations & Insurance Distribution
- Insurance Quant Research
If you’re a leader looking to attract top talent for your team in this competitive market, or a candidate exploring your next move - we would be happy to connect over the coming weeks.
