A dominant theme for brokers will be ensuring that clients’ cover and sums insured are regularly reviewed, says SIB chair
The Society of Insurance Broking (SIB), part of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), plans to focus on attracting fresh talent to the broking sector in 2022.
The SIB is a professional body that launched in September 2018 - it is dedicated to those working in the insurance broking industry.
Kevin Hancock, SIB’s chair and Yutree Insurance’s managing director, said: “We must do more to make insurance a more accessible degree course and to increase the availability and awareness of insurance apprenticeships, which are both excellent routes into our profession.
“There are many impressive apprenticeship training providers and, in my firm, we’ve benefited firsthand with two of our valued team following this path into broking.”
The potential value of apprenticeship programmes is further demonstrated by the CII’s Aspire scheme, which launched in 2017. To date, more than 500 registered firms participate in the initiative.
It offers structured training to apprentices to help them achieve the necessary qualifications and skills required to become a fully qualified financial advisor or insurance professional.
Gill White, CII’s chief customer officer, added: “We are proud of the work we do with our partner universities and are committed to continuing this in 2022. Yet, we must do more to attract the next generation.
“It is vital we all help young people understand the breadth and diversity of careers available to them in our profession and where talent is at a premium, we must reach out proactively.
”Enabling younger people to gain both a standard qualification, like a degree, alongside professional qualifications increases their capabilities and sets them up for more immediate workplace success.”
Hard market support
Looking more broadly at industry-wide themes for 2022, Hancock noted that a dominant issue will be ensuring that clients’ cover and sums insured are regularly reviewed in line with labour and material costs continuing to increase.
He continued: “Alongside helping our clients cope with the ongoing impact of the pandemic and Brexit, we will need to review and refresh our product offerings so we meet the regulator’s [standards or requirements] around fair pricing and product governance.
“Many brokers are seeing a hard market for the first time - our society will continue to support brokers by producing a series of webinars and articles to help members explain market dynamics to their clients.
“We will also provide useful tips to insurance brokers on how to work with insurers and manage customers’ expectations.”
Aston Lark group chief executive Peter Blanc started his tenure as CII president this month.
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