Thanks everyone for the comments.
The recruiter who placed me at my current position, did actually negotiate for higher pay and a reimbursement for moving expenses as well, which I wasn’t going to ask for. That said, I do get the principal-agent problem.
I used a combination of applying to jobs on LinkedIn and sending my resume off to external recruiters to find my new job. I was able to secure multiple offers in a short time frame, this helps greatly when it came time to negotiate.
Leave no stone unturned when it comes to job postings, even if it means taking that phone call from Oliver James or Shelby Jennings. They actually have access to some pretty neat listings that other more reputable recruiters do not.
Good luck with your job search.
The going is pretty good right now for talented actuaries. If you are dissatisfied with your pay or work responsibilities/environment, now is the time to get out. Plenty of jobs offering high pay, remote work, and very pleasant work life balance. No reason to suffer right now. You are an FSA, you are hot, you are in demand!!!
Am I am outlier that I was never placed by a recruiter or from seeing a position posted in 25+ years of actuarial work? Every job I landed was via word of mouth from friends/former co-workers. This includes my entry level job. I also turned down a few offers, also via the same sources.
Definitely an outlier in this day and age. Sounds like you have a good network though so you don’t need to rely on job boards and recruiters, not a bad position to be in
Given your time-in-career, I think your experience is uncommon, but I’m not certain you’re an outlier.
I do wonder if “never placed by a recruiter” might be becoming more common given the rise of online job postings/applications.
My own history looks something like this:
Company 1 (30 years ago): EL job found by spamming resumes
Company 2 (27 years ago): Placed by recruiter
Company 3 (25 years ago): I responded to an online job posting
Company 4 (20 years ago): Recruited by someone I worked with at Company 3
Company 5: acquired Company 4; as part of integration, I transferred from Company 4 (which continues as a discrete subsidiary of Company 5) to Company 5.
This day and age in the UK, when you actively go for higher level jobs, the companies in question will use a specialised recruiter. It would be very hard to work around this via word of mouth/networking.
The only outlier here is an internal upwards move (promotion). Thats the only way I know of avoiding a recruiter really. I am currently thinking of doing this as it is much easier (also cheaper for company).
Just curious,
But in the US do you have referral bonuses for employees?
Just read that you got recruited by an employee so the question popped into my head as we do have them in the UK (£3k at my current company).
Many companies do have a referral bonus, and some do not. I know that one friend got the bonus from one of my job moves, and another did not. Note that senior employees are often not eligible for referral bonuses.
My actuarial job history (not counting internal promotions)
$500 referral bonus has been the standard everywhere I’ve worked
Some companies do have them. Mine does it for certain positions, although I forget the parameters.
Mine has referral bonuses, but i am at too high a grade to get one.
‘Someone’ at SAS lookin at my LinkedIn. ('O_o)
Quit talkin bout me. 
I was obviously creepin’… 
Except I don’t think I remember your name. First name yes, last name no.
Eh I know a handful of ppl up there, but it was apparently around the time of our prior exchange, so I naturally blame you. Also I clearly don’t look at LinkedIn very much.