WHAT DOES A COMMERCIAL UNDERWRITER DO?
Published: July 30, 2024 - The Commercial Underwriter generates profitable business and achieves departmental targets by delivering sales and renewals figures in line with KPIs. Compliance with FCA regulations is maintained, as evidenced by performance in compliance audits, while providing support to the Insurance Service Centre team. Utilizes a flexible approach to underwriting, ensures growth and profitability, and assists colleagues with technical and procedural aspects of underwriting.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Commercial Underwriter
1. Commercial Underwriter Duties
- Loan Analysis: Obtain loan request information from bank lending personnel or obligor to analyze credit information, financial statements, and other related information about the loan.
- Background Research: Research background documentation, including personal and business financial statements and tax returns.
- Credit Evaluation: Evaluate credit proposals, including financial data and industry business risk, to assess creditworthiness for senior leadership review and consideration.
- Risk Mitigation: Design strategies to review/modify existing commercial loan portfolios, identify emerging risks, and develop mitigation strategies to allow continued performance of bank portfolios.
- Underwriting: Underwrite large and complex commercial loans through written analysis (credit memo), spreadsheets, industry ratio benchmarking, summaries, and opinions driven from material fact.
- Data Input: Use office computers for data input and other activities as they relate to the underwriting of commercial loans, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Sageworks.
- Due Diligence: Research complex transactions for due diligence purposes.
- Appraisal Origination: Originate all appraisal work orders for all commercial loan applicants.
- Appraisal Review: Review appraisal reports and corresponding market opinions, and report substantive findings to the VP of Lending.
- UCC Research: Research UCC liens and report those findings to the department head or incorporate them into the credit memo.
2. Commercial Underwriter Details
- Research: Research obligor’s legal status as per secretary of state where the entity is domiciled.
- Underwriting: Establish and underwrite annual reviews and updates to existing loan files for the bank.
- Reporting: Generate WIP report which provides extensive information regarding bank loan pipeline.
- Technical Advice: Ability to provide technical advice and assistance to commercial loan officers.
- Loan Policies: Extensive knowledge of loan review policies and procedures.
- Policy Review: Review bank credit policy and procedures and recommend improvements to VP of Lending and CEO.
- Training: Ability to train and evaluate new staff on commercial policies and procedures.
- Model Development: Develop commercial underwriting model and aid in the implementation of risk management methodologies.
- Independence: Generally works independently, needing minimal supervision, to evaluate moderately complex loan request packages.
- Loan Analysis: Perform review, analysis, and risk grading of loan packages, from simple to moderate levels of complexity, submitted by loan officers.
- Risk Assessment: Review, analysis, and risk assessment of simple to moderately complex personal and business entity financial statements, credit reports, and supporting data
3. Commercial Underwriter Responsibilities
- Underwriting: Underwrite new and renewal multi-line accounts
- Underwriting: Work within specific limits to underwrite middle market accounts
- Collaboration: Work with other business functions to ensure service and quality objectives
- Market Knowledge: Demonstrate an understanding of the insurance marketplace and emerging industry issues
- Technical Knowledge: Complete assigned project work requiring a basic level of technical knowledge
- Underwriting: Underwrite and approve risks with appropriate pricing through review and analysis of financials
- Business Development: Generate leads and independently develop business relationships through industry networking
- Customer Service: Provide strong customer service and participate in agency functions and general sales calls
- Leadership: Demonstrate leadership skills by leading, developing, and motivating team members through service standards, technological tools, and house systems, CapEx
- Risk Assessment: Determine what underwriting guideline changes are needed by investigating and reporting on bond claims and losses
4. Commercial Underwriter Accountabilities
- Risk Assessment: Processes Digital Wallet applicants to determine a risk rating and assign a loan limit.
- Risk Assessment: Analyze applications and determine if they meet criteria within an established Risk Model to ensure business losses are not incurred.
- Research: Research credit sources for information on creditworthiness and/or contact financial institutions or other sources to verify the information.
- Consultancy: Provide consultancy services and guidance to Ceridian employees (Sales Representatives, Clients, Implementation, Projects, Service) regarding queries concerning a client’s funding status to ensure compliance with Risk Policy.
- Time Management: Operate within strict timelines to complete funding analysis and prepare reports on credit proposals to ensure compliance.
- Portfolio Management: Substantial and ongoing review of the assigned portfolio to monitor risk for negative trending and financial alerts.
- Proactiveness: Must be proactive in assessing these situations promptly to ensure business losses are not incurred.
- Continuous Development: Continuous development of credit models and keeping up to date with market, legal, and compliance conditions involved in the analysis of funding terms for clients.
- Fiscal Responsibility: Maintain awareness around maintaining a fiscally responsible balance between sales growth and risk management.
- Reporting: Create, report on, and contribute to the evolution of a Dayforce Wallet dashboard.
- Time Management: Operate within strict timelines to meet internal and external client expectations.
- Communication: Interact on a day-to-day basis with various internal and external departments to assist with queries as they come up.
- Reporting: Weekly and ad-hoc interaction with senior leadership on activity reporting.
5. Commercial Underwriter Functions
- Business Generation: Generate profitable business as evidenced by the achievement of departmental targets.
- Sales: Delivery of sales and renewals figures in line with department KPIs as evidenced by the achievement of departmental targets.
- Compliance: Compliance with FCA regulations at all times, as evidenced by performance in compliance audits.
- Support: Provide support to the Insurance Service Centre team.
- Flexibility: Utilize a flexible approach to underwriting both new and existing business ensuring growth and profitability.
- Coaching: Assist and coach colleagues with technical and procedural aspects of underwriting, as required.
- Customer Service: Act as the first point of contact and provide solutions for customers in the sale or renewal of products/policies.
- Sales Opportunity Identification: Identify potential sales opportunities through active listening and analysis of the customer’s needs.
- Communication: Communicate in an effective manner, ensuring customers have a full understanding of the products they are buying by demonstrating a positive and professional image at all times.
- Issue Resolution: Follow up, and resolve to a satisfactory conclusion, any issues arising from sales or service queries.
- Documentation: Prepare mid-term adjustment and cancellation documentation.
- Customer Service: Record of providing outstanding customer service.
- Telephone Technique: Competent customer service and telephone technique.