An increasingly complex risk landscape, combined with greater accountability and public scrutiny for professionals, is creating an environment in which a broker’s expertise is more valuable than ever.
Amid the emergence of new risks such as cyber, the importance of intermediaries as a source of invaluable advice shows no sign of going away, according to Steve Jenkins, development director at the Chartered Insurance Institute.
“Broking is going to become more and more important in the future, and the way in which people will be able to differentiate themselves is through their expertise, the way in which they conduct themselves, and the extent to which they are up to date – in other words, how professional they are,” Jenkins told
Insurance Business.
Looking ahead to next year,
the arrival of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) will only compound that, Jenkins went on to say.
“The IDD has really focused people’s minds in terms of needing to keep up to date,” he said. As a result, the
CII’s market-leading training proposition, Broker Assess, will be providing its users with an IDD-specific training solution.
“The directive requires both core knowledge and product knowledge. We provide the facility for the core, generic knowledge that everybody needs to know, and then each employer can add the information that’s specific to the products for that particular organisation,” Jenkins explained.
Regardless, even without the IDD, there is a wider groundswell in the industry toward increased development, according to the director.
“We’re seeing an enormous enthusiasm to embrace learning and development,” Jenkins said. “That sometimes manifests itself through professional qualifications. Increasingly though, it’s manifesting itself through accessing CPD on an e-learning basis, which is what Broker Assess is. You’re also seeing firms now increasingly embrace chartered status, which goes above and beyond the regulation.
“The fact that the IDD has come along in parallel just brings the whole thing into focus, but I think that’s a happy coincidence rather than people being dragged kicking and screaming – they’re doing it of their own volition, because they know it’s the right thing to do,” Jenkins commented.
“All professionals are living in a world where there is greater scrutiny on what they do. Whether that manifests itself through greater regulation, or whether it’s just through greater accountability in the media or in the public eye.”
He added: “Professionals need to embrace change – and we’re seeing that many brokers are, and, one way in which they are doing that is by making sure that their knowledge is adding value.”
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