Ward Group is a dedicated team focused exclusively on the insurance industry. Armed with over 20 years of experience in the insurance sector and current market data, Ward Group conducts compensation surveys to help insurance organizations gauge the market and develop competitive HR practices and compensation plans.
Global Scale
Our insurance compensation data covers companies in the Property & Casualty, Life, Brokerage, P&C Reinsurance and Specialty sectors. Our annual surveys cover all forms of compensation measured across divisions, businesses, roles, and firm types and provide benchmark compensation data to analyze salaries and incentives for virtually every insurance position, as well as other key functions that support the business.

120+
Property & Casualty
Insurance Firms

45+
Life Insurance
Firms

45+
Insurance Brokerage
Firms

25+
Reinsurance
Firms
Comprehensive Compensation Intelligence for Insurance Companies
Our survey structure provides compensation data for insurance and infrastructure functions. A sampling of our cross-survey functions include:
Insurance Roles
- Top Management
- Underwriting
- Actuarial
- Claims
- Sales/Producers
Infrastructure Roles
- Finance and Business Services
- Communications and Marketing
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Legal and Compliance
- Risk Management
- Treasury
Our compensation surveys can be combined with the firm's operational and financial benchmarks to help companies assess their pay levels, understand compensation relative to performance, and develop competitive compensation plans. Insurers and brokers can compare their compensation practices against customized benchmark groups, including top performers.
Property & Casualty Compensation Survey
Our Property & Casualty (P&C) Insurance Compensation Survey is sponsored by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).
We cover key functions and positions in P&C firms which provide pay statistics on virtually all positions from the receptionist to the CEO. To view a full list of these functions, please click here.
To further capture pay distinctions, data is also broken out by firm size (direct written premium), firm type (stock versus mutual), and region.
Life Insurance Compensation Surveys
For life insurance companies looking to assess their employee pay levels and manage their overall compensation spending, we offer two compensation surveys designed to gauge the competitive U.S. market for the lion’s share of roles in the industry. Our Insurance Sales & Marketing Compensation Survey covers roles in the various sales and marketing functions found at a Life Insurance carrier, while our Management & Administration Compensation Survey covers support roles.
A sampling of functions covered include:
Insurance Sales & Marketing
- Wholesaling/Product Specialists
- Internal Wholesaling/Sales Support
- Key Account Management
- Group Sales
- Product Management
To view a full list, please
click here.
Insurance Management & Administration
- Corporate Management
- Actuarial
- Claims
- Underwriting
- Finance & Accounting
- Human Resources
- IT Management & Front Office Systems
- Legal & Compliance
- Risk Management
To view a full list, please
click here.
To further capture pay distinctions, data is also broken out by firm size and location.
Insurance Brokerage Compensation Survey
For the past 10 years, our Insurance Brokerage Compensation Survey has been sponsored by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB). We provide detailed information about competitive pay levels for key roles across the major functions within the insurance brokerage industry. For a full list of the key roles, please click here.
We provide data critical to our client’s success. We help our clients:
- Track producer pay and production to assess the competitiveness of producer revenue results and evaluate talent.
- Manage compensation spending across functions and businesses, project salary budgets, and optimize your pay mix.
- Drive recruiting and retention by reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of compensation strategies.
Global Property & Casualty Reinsurance Compensation Survey
We provide competitive benchmark compensation data for reinsurance professionals globally as well as other key functions that support the reinsurance business. To date, we’ve collected data across 8 countries for over 25 companies. For a list of the countries that we collect data within, please click here.
For Underwriting and some Account Executive roles, data is broken out to capture pay distinctions for Reinsurance Type (i.e., Treaty versus Facultative) and Specializations (i.e. Professional Liability, Marine, and Credit & Bond / Security). Other key functions covered include:
- Top Management
- Actuarial
- Catastrophe Modeling
- Claims
- Finance and Accounting
- Human Resources
Specialty Insurance Compensation Survey
For specialty carriers looking to assess their employee pay levels and manage their overall compensation spending, we offer a compensation survey designed to gauge the competitive US market for professional roles within the industry.
We cover key functions in the industry including:
- Top Management
- Specialty Management
- Specialty Underwriting
- Actuarial
- Claims
Additionally, we provide reports with data broken out by specialty lines of businesses, including (but not limited to):
- Marine
- Energy
- Products
- E&S
- Transportation
- Property
- FinPro
- Surety
- Accident and Health
About Ward Group
Ward Group within McLagan is the leading provider of benchmarking and best practices studies for the insurance industry. We analyze staff levels, compensation, business practices, and expenses for all areas of insurance company operations and help insurers measure results compared to peer groups, optimize performance, and improve profitability. Since 1991, we have performed more than 2,500 operational and compensation benchmarking exercises for companies of all sizes, including more than half of the top 100 U.S. insurance carriers.
Moving Beyond Pay: Market Intelligence and Insights
Beyond compensation surveys, McLagan offers a broad range of Market Practice Studies throughout the year. Specific to the insurance industry, we provide specialized studies on Diversity and Actuarial Practices on pay practices in the industry.
To learn more about McLagan Market Practice Studies, click here.
Survey Pricing, Access, and Support
Please contact McLagan for details on pricing.
Survey purchases include 24/7 access to the McLagan Client Portal. This puts survey results and insights in reach at all times.
All survey clients are assigned a dedicated relationship manager to provide benchmarking support during the survey input, position and employee level analysis, and access to webinars and roundtables where clients receive the latest in hot topics in the market and networking opportunities with industry peers. We provide a variety of rewards and compensation advisory solutions to assist clients with their compensation, performance, and talent strategies.
Actuarial Service
Administrative Support
Captive Agency Management
Captive Agency Wholesaling
Ceded Reinsurance
Claims
Communications & Marketing
Corporate Sales
Corporate Services
Customer Service/Call Center
Direct Professional Sales
Direct Response Sales
Direct Retail/Branch Sales
Finance & Business Services
Group Sales
Human Resources
Independent Agency/Broker Wholesaling
Information Technology
Legal & Compliance
Management
Operational Support
Payment Processing
Policy Administration
Predictive Analytics
Product Management & Development
Risk Consulting
Risk Management
Sales Planning Administration
Top Sales Management
Treasury & ALM
Underwriting
Advanced Markets Services
Captive Agency Management
Copywriting
Corporate Owned Life Insurance Sales
e-Business
Graphics / Art Design
Group Employee Education
Group Plan Installation
Group Plan RFP Response
Group Sales
Group Sponsor Administration
Group Sponsor Relationship Management
Intermediary / Producer Services
Intermediary/Wholesale Sales
Internal Sales and Sales Support
Key Account Management
Management
Marketing
Policyholder Services
Predictive Analytics
Product Management
Sales Training
Actuarial
Asset / Liability Management
Business Segment Management
Claims
Compliance
Corporate Management
Divisional Management
Finance & Accounting
Front Office Systems
Human Resources
Information Technology
Legal
Licensing Administration
Logistics
Planning & Development
Policy Administration
Risk Management
Underwriting
Account Executive
Account Management / Customer Service
Carrier Placements
Claims
Compliance
Employee Benefit Data Analytics
Finance & Accounting
General Services
Human Resources
Information Technology
Legal
Licensing Administration
Loss Control
Management
Marketing
Mergers and Acquisitions
National Practice Group
Producer Sales
Secretarial / Administrative Services
Underwriting
Bermuda
Brazil
Canada
France
Singapore
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States