Executive Talent Intelligence Brief™
Monthly U.S. hiring intelligence for P&C, life and annuity, reinsurance,
MGA/MGU and program businessand insurance distribution.
Monthly U.S. hiring intelligence for P&C, life and annuity, reinsurance, MGA/MGU and program businessand insurance distribution.
Every month we read the public record on the insurance executive market and tell you what it means before you open a search. Executive moves, the pay ranges employers are actually publishing, underwriting and actuarial signals, the transactions that create hiring, and our 30, 60 and 90 day read.
The September edition is below, open to read. Subscribe and we'll send you October.
One email a month when the new edition publishes. Unsubscribe any time.
Read the September edition
No form. Open it, forward it, quote it.
What the September edition found
- Carrier headcount fell 81,000 in 12 months. Insurance carrier employment went from 3,016,600 in July 2025 to 2,935,600 in July 2026, a 2.7% contraction. Calculated from BLS Current Employment Statistics, insurance carriers and related activities.
- P&C net income rose 49.0% to $82.0 billion. First half 2026, on a 92.5% combined ratio, with the underwriting gain nearly tripling to $38.6 billion. NAIC industry snapshots for the period ended 30 June 2026.
- Almost nobody is moving. Quits in finance and insurance ran at 1.2% in July and layoffs at 0.2%. The contraction is running through attrition and unfilled seats, so most candidates for these roles are in a seat already. BLS JOLTS, July 2026.
- A reserving actuarial VP posted at $245,000 to $275,000. Base salary, published by a personal lines carrier in Boston. The edition carries the full table of employer-published ranges, from $105,000 to $400,000, quoted verbatim from live postings.
Figures are current as of the 1 September 2026 data cutoff. Compensation is quoted from live employer postings in the 15 jurisdictions that require pay disclosure, so coverage excludes Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, the Southeast and most of the Ohio Valley.
What's in every edition
- Executive market snapshot. Where the market sits and what it means for a search opening this quarter.
- P&C, and life and annuity. Premiums, underwriting results, pricing by line, balance sheet developments.
- What executives are actually being offered. Employer-published pay ranges, quoted verbatim. No surveys, no models, no averaging.
- Executive moves to watch. Publicly announced appointments at role and organization level, and the pattern behind them.
- Capital and M&A. The transactions that create finance, underwriting, operations and data requirements, and how long the lag usually runs.
- Regional signal across 11 U.S. markets, including the ones where we found nothing.
- The 30, 60 and 90 day read, with our confidence marked, and one call that argues against us.
Who publishes the Executive Talent Intelligence Brief?
Lyneer Search Group, a retained executive search firm founded in 1993 and headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey, specializing in insurance, wealth management, and financial services.
Where do the numbers come from?
Every number is traceable to a named public source: the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the NAIC, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, Marsh, Swiss Re Institute, AM Best, NOAA, SEC filings, company announcements, insurance trade press, and live employer job postings. Lyneer publishes no compensation data from its own searches and names no individual executive.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. One email a month, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
About Lyneer Search Group
The executive search firm for insurance, wealth management, and financial services. Founded in 1993, headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey.
Every search starts with the industry. Understanding a P&C carrier is different from understanding an MGA or a life insurer, and that context decides whether a leader succeeds or struggles.
In insurance we recruit finance and accounting, underwriting, actuarial, operations, and data leadership, from middle market through large carriers. Our searches are confidential and we don't publish client names.
Every retained search we've accepted since 1993 has ended in a completed placement.
Talk to us about your next insurance leadership hire.
hello@lyneersearch.com · 646-543-8865
Last updated September 2026.
