Athene seeks to fill 225 full-time positions
February 28, 2014 by Victor Epstein
Written by Victor Epstein
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Athene USA is looking for a whole lot more than just a few good people.
The insurer, which is holding a job fair Monday, hopes to fill 225 full-time slots created by the ongoing consolidation of its operations in West Des Moines. The fair will run from 4 to 7 p.m. at Athene’s operational headquarters at 7700 Mills Civic Parkway.
The insurer, formerly known as Aviva USA, is in the process of ending its operations in Topeka, Kan., where it had about 220 people. It’s also winding down a sales office in Wilmington, Del., where it has 25 employees, and its old headquarters in Greenville, S.C., which has 150 people.
“Most of the positions we have to fill are a direct result of what we’re doing in Topeka,” said Grant Kvalheim, president of Athene Holding. “We’ve offered a lot of people there the opportunity to make the move. So far, 15 have taken us up on it. (That) leaves us with a lot of slots to fill.”
Athene Holding is the parent company of Athene USA. It’s the insurance arm of the Apollo Global Management private equity firm and is legally headquartered in Bermuda, but manages its daily operations from West Des Moines. Apollo completed its purchase of Aviva USA in October for $2.6 billion.
Kvalheim said the number of Athene staffers transferring to Des Moines from Greenville will be in the mid-teens. Five of them are already here. Three more Athene staffers are making the move to West Des Moines from Wilmington.
All the positions in the offices being shuttered won’t make it to Iowa due to what Kvalheim called “efficiencies.” That’s often means the elimination of redundant operations and personnel.
Athene plans to close its Greenville location sometime next year and its Wilmington location by June 30.
Kvalheim said the salaries of the empty positions in West Des Moines will be commensurate with those in the Des Moines area insurance hub. More than 200 applicants had signed up as of Wednesday, according to Athene.
The insurer is looking to fill positions ranging from call center employees to actuaries. It’s also seeking salespeople and managers.
“We’re trying to replicate all of the functions we had in Topeka,” Kvalheim said.
The Des Moines area is one of the largest insurance hubs in the U.S., with more than 24,000 insurance professionals. Many insurance companies that acquire operations in the Des Moines area opt to expand here, rather than leave, due to the low cost of doing business, affordable living conditions, and deep reservoir of insurance professionals.
Insurance salaries in the Des Moines area are typically less than those in other U.S. insurance hubs. About 480 of the nation’s 21,340 actuaries make their homes in Iowa. Many of them are in the Des Moines area, where they had an average salary of $90,150 in May 2012. That compares with a national average of $106,680 and an average of $113,330 in the insurance hub in Hartford, Conn.
However, the gap in wages is more than offset by the lower cost of living. For example, an actuary earning $90,000 in Des Moines would have to make $122,184 in Hartford to maintain the same lifestyle, according to the Bankrate.com relocation calculator.