NIBA / Special Feature
The insurance profession is entering an era of unprecedented change. The risk landscape is evolving at pace, while the demands, expectations and needs of clients are evolving at similar velocity. Throw into that mix the impact of artificial intelligence and technology affecting everything from how insurers assess risk to how brokers manage admin, and it’s clear the forthcoming decade is going to be very different to what went before. “It’s undoubtedly a time of major change, and that change presents huge opportunities for brokers,” says Richard Klipin, CEO of NIBA. “As a profession, insurance broking has always had a strong appetite for continual professional development, and education uplift is going to be integral to how we as a profession adapt and thrive over the coming years.” That thinking is confirmed by brokers surveyed for NIBA’s Ready or Reacting? Shaping the Future of the Broking Profession report, which was released late last year. In that report, which
“Formal qualifications like Tier 1 and the Diploma of Insurance Broking provide essential technical and ethical foundations, but ongoing capability now depends just as much on short courses and micro-credentials that allow brokers to continually update their skills as technology and risk change. “Perhaps the biggest shift I’ve seen is mindset. Over the past few years, there has also been a clear move toward lifting professional standards across the industry. The Diploma of Insurance Broking is increasingly viewed as a baseline qualification rather than an endpoint.” Filling the curiosity gap Having the right mindset for learning is important – and it impacts much more than an individual broker. Studies have shown that having a lifelong learning mindset impacts business success – with a Deloitte study showing 92% of organisations with a strong learning culture developing more innovations. It impacts the service
identified the key trends that were going to impact the sector over the next decade, 75% of respondents said they believed an education uplift was likely or very likely to occur. The single most important broker capability is… The single most important capability brokers will need over the next decade, believes Katrina Shanks, CEO of ANZIIF, is the ability to use technology and data confidently while retaining clear human oversight, professional judgement, and accountability. “Brokers will also need much deeper expertise in emerging and complex risk areas, such as cyber risk, climate volatility, and supply‑chain disruption. Clients increasingly expect brokers to help them understand and manage these risks across the full policy lifecycle, not just at renewal.” In terms of how that knowledge and insight is acquired, Shanks believes a blended approach to learning will be key.
52 / INSURANCE ADVISER APRIL/MAY 2026
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