Insurance & Annuities Strategy/Product Manager, Avp/Vp

Morgan Stanley Insured Solutions [IS] Strategic Initiatives Manager responsibilities include promoting products and service through a streamlined digitally enabled engagement model. It requires firmwide and insurance company partner collaboration and partnership. Success to the role will be measured by effective management of a broad-based suite of initiatives including a) launches of new insurance partner, products and services to FAs and clients and, b) incrementally growing penetration and revenue through effective partnering with the fintech community, c) maintaining a keen focus on partner credit diligence, suitability and effective risk management, and d) partnering with both internal and external stakeholders to elevate utilization and extend reach of Insured Solutions. The position will partner with product, operations, legal, compliance, and insurance company partners internal and sales management teams to provide guidance on positioning, and assistance in product training activities.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with insurance company relationships to package and support the distribution of annuity and property & casualty insurance solutions.
• Determine product and platform configuration to expand offering across all WM platforms.
• Prepare Insurance Company due diligence for delivery to senior management and Committee membership.
• Create executive level presentations on state of the business, status updates, and present pitches to senior management
• Assist in managing and prioritizing the platform launches in coordination with operations and sales organizations.
• Maintain and provide technical subject matter expertise, case design and analysis/rationale.
• Leverage competitive intelligence in becoming an industry/product expert and provide strategic insight on growth opportunities.
• Partner with the IS businesses in the negotiation of contracts and pricing for products and insurance companies.
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and Operations to ensure product offering complies with Firm and industry standards.
• Provide ongoing support to wholesalers and key insurance company relationships.
• Manage the MSWM Insurance Planning Director Designation including ongoing program supervision, reporting to Designation Committee, and development of platform integrated and virtual education series with external vendors and negotiated carrier sponsorships.
• Partner with IS businesses to develop and deliver new product training to FAs, Sales Desk, and Sales Specialists.

Experience:

• 3+ years of experience in Annuity & Insurance industry or related industry preferred.
• Functional experience in project management, sales, strategy, marketing communications, data analytics/metrics in a leadership role.
• B.A. degree required.
• Life Insurance Licensed or within 90 days of hire date
• Series 7 and 63 licenses (or equivalent) or within 90 days of hire date

Skills/Abilities:

• Experience working in a matrixed organization;
  ability to collaborate across legal, compliance, technology and platforms.
• Demonstrated positive initiative, leadership and comfort working in a fast
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• Strong interpersonal collaboration and team skills including working with cross-
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• Strong analytical skills, performance and metrics tracking.
• Ability to translate white space opportunities into viable solutions from strategy development to execution
• Collaboration with insurance company partners, asset managers, and software companies on strategic product and platform projects
• Experience working with Financial Advisors and sales support staff on training and education initiatives
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail;
  able to prioritize and manage multiple workstreams in a fast-paced environment
• Self-starter who is highly motivated, intellectually curious, and solutions-oriented, with the ability to work independently while knowing when to escalate
• Proficiency and experience in creating executive level presentations on state of the business, status updates, and present pitches to senior management
• Demonstrated ability to learn new products, processes, and apply judgment to deliver outcomes aligned to business goals
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience partnering across teams and engaging senior stakeholders, able to synthesize complex information into clear, actionable updates