The insurance industry doesn’t stand still. New regulations arrive, data sources multiply and technology reshapes how work gets done.

The people who progress aren’t simply the most experienced, they’re the ones who stay up to date with the constantly shifting environment. Ongoing training can help you turn day-to-day tasks into repeatable wins, speeds up collaboration and gives you the confidence to take on bigger responsibility.

Below you will learn why continuous learning pays off, how to build a plan that sticks and where MatBlas can help – starting with free resources.

Why continuous learning pays off

Effective training is more than just logging CPD hours. It’s learning that changes outcomes.

When you deepen your knowledge, your day-to-day decisions improve. You price with greater confidence, challenge assumptions earlier and navigate reviews with fewer loops. You also speak the same language across underwriting, claims, actuarial, finance and compliance, which cuts down on misunderstandings and speeds up delivery.

In practical terms, ongoing training gives you:

• Sharper judgement on pricing, reserving and risk
• Clearer language with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Confidence to lead projects and present to senior teams
• Mobility across lines of business and roles
• Evidenced progress that maps neatly to CPD

A simple rule of thumb: if a course helps you do one task faster, explain one topic more clearly, or reduce one source of error, it’s already paying back.

Map learning to your real work

A good plan starts with where you are and where you want to be. Underwriters often benefit most from pricing foundations, exposure and experience rating, and practical rate monitoring.

Claims teams gain traction when they refresh triangles, trend and inflation, and strengthen feedback loops back to pricing.

Colleagues in compliance, finance, IT and HR work more effectively when they see how actuarial concepts underpin reporting, governance, Solvency II and data pipelines.

If you are early in your career or switching into insurance, strong foundations in insurance and reinsurance will accelerate everything that follows.

Pick one outcome for the next quarter and learn against it. For example: “Price a small treaty confidently by Q2,” or “Present a cleaner reserving update with fewer caveats.” Let that outcome choose the training topics, not the other way round.

The core skill stack (built in layers)

Think of your skills as layers you can stack quickly and revisit when needed.

Foundation

Start with how the insurance product works, what reinsurance does, and how the market cycle influences behaviour. You’ll read reports and submissions differently once this is second nature.

Technical bedrock

Data quality comes first: checks, reconciliations, version control. Add the basics of statistics – frequency, severity, variability and trend – and you’ll be able to probe results with confidence. Learn to read MI so you can tell signal from noise.

Pricing and reserving essentials

Cover the core tools: frequency-severity, ILFs, excess factors, and the differences between risk-attaching and losses-occurring. Most importantly, see how pricing, reserving and capital decisions join up in real life.

Collaboration

Great work stalls without clear collaboration. Learn to write better briefs for actuaries, turn technical outputs into business actions for leaders, and use simple standards so teams work in the same way.

Build a learning plan you’ll keep

Plans fail when they’re vague or oversized. Keep yours small, visible and tied to live work.

• Choose one outcome for 6-12 months
• Pick three to five capabilities that support it
• Assign one resource to each (short course, article, video, or a Lunch & Learn)
• Block two 30-45 minute slots a week in your diary
• Practise on a real project (even a small slice)
• Review monthly: what’s quicker now, what still blocks you, what to change

Small, steady effort compounds. You’ll notice it first in how you frame problems and in how quickly colleagues come to you for a view.

Make training stick: practise, share, reuse

Learning compounds when you apply it. Use a live case to practise a concept, even if you start with a small slice. Price one layer. Audit one triangle. Tidy one messy dataset and document the checks you used. Share what you learned in a short internal debrief. When you teach a colleague, you clarify your own thinking and spread better practice.

Establishing good habits can help:

• Name files and tabs consistently
• Log key assumptions in one place
• Record common errors and how to avoid them next time
• Teach a colleague – teaching is the quickest way to spot gaps

You’ll feel the benefit when reviews are shorter, handovers are cleaner and you spend more time on judgement rather than rework.

How MatBlas can help

Start today, then go deeper when you’re ready.

Free, self-paced courses (ideal for foundations and refreshers):

• Introduction to Insurance
• Introduction to Reinsurance
• Pricing is a Process (Parts 1 and 2)
• Demystifying Basic Statistical Concepts

Register for our Free Courses.

Team learning that fits your diary:

• Free 90-minute Lunch and Learn sessions (in person or online).
• Pure knowledge, zero sales. Tailored to your class of business or function.
• Great for CPD and team bonding.

Learn more about our free Lunch and Learn sessions.

Bespoke training for depth:

• Role-specific curricula for underwriting, pricing, claims and leadership.
• Real cases, practical exercises, and follow-up clinics through the MatBlas Academy.
• Designed to change how teams work, not just what they know.

Find out more about our Training services.

Ana Mata

Managing Director and Actuary