H.W. Kaufman International
London’s insurance brokers are facing a significant period of change with client expectations rising, technology reshaping the profession, and the competition for talent becoming more urgent.
Yet the findings of FastForward: The Next Chapter for London Insurance Brokers, a new report commissioned by Burns & Wilcox Global Solutions, show a profession that remains strikingly confident. Based on a survey of 205 London insurance brokers, the report reveals a market that is optimistic about its future – but also clear that confidence must be matched by action on skills, recruitment and the next generation of talent.
A resounding endorsement for new entrants
The views of those working within a profession can provide a valuable insight into its long-term appeal. When polled on how likely they would be to recommend a career as an insurance broker to new entrants, the response from London market professionals was overwhelmingly positive. An impressive 74% of brokers state they are ‘likely’ to recommend the path while an additional 21% are ‘very likely’ to do so.
This overwhelming endorsement represents an extraordinary vote of confidence in broking as a career path. It suggests that those closest to the mechanics of risk placement continue to see the work as intellectually stimulating, commercially meaningful, and offering prospects secure enough to recommend to the next generation.
London’s enduring market appeal
This advocacy is built upon a solid foundation of personal career optimism. When brokers look ahead at their own professional horizons within the London ecosystem, their confidence is high. A combined 97% of survey participants describe themselves as either ‘quite confident’ (64%) or ‘very confident’ (33%) regarding their future prospects. That confidence is reinforced by the finding that nearly nine out of ten (88%) brokers surveyed, agree the London market is equipping brokers with the skills needed for the next 10 years.
This optimism highlights London’s enduring status as the global capital for complex, non-standard risk management. The intricate, high-value corporate risks handled by brokers require bespoke human negotiation, syndication, and sophisticated advisory skills – capabilities that may be shielded from simple technological replacement.
Raising the profile of insurance broking
Despite this enthusiasm, a persistent challenge remains: ensuring the wider world continues to recognise the unique appeal of broking. Two thirds (66%) of survey respondents answered ‘mostly yes’ when asked if their sector is a well-known enough as a destination career, with 14% answering a definitive ‘yes’. However, 12% remain unsure and 8% feel the market still lacks sufficient visibility.
While careers such as investment banking and fund management often dominate the conversation among graduates and other talent looking to enter the City, insurance broking can offer work that is every bit as varied, commercially significant and intellectually demanding. Brokers help clients navigate some of the world’s most complex and specialty risks, so raising the sector’s profile will therefore be essential if market leaders are to keep attracting ambitious, high-calibre talent.
Attracting the next generation of talent
To help raise awareness and capture the interest of top-tier graduates, the market must align its incentives with modern professional values. Respondents were asked to evaluate and score the core components essential for attracting new entrants to the industry.
The vast majority highlighted the importance of greater promotion of the market. Brokers also identified that young professionals seek clear career progression and the intellectual dynamism of working with global clients. Interestingly, competitive remuneration scored much lower, perhaps indicating that today’s talent takes baseline financial reward for granted in the City, prioritising corporate culture, global exposure, and long-term career growth instead.
Insight to inform graduate recruitment
With those priorities in mind, the survey also explored areas of focus the market can take to attract more graduates into broking.
University partnerships emerged as the highest-ranked initiative for attracting graduates into broking roles. Establishing formal relationships with leading academic institutions allows brokerage firms to demystify the sector long before students enter the job market.
Professional qualification sponsorship ranked a close second by those London brokers surveyed. New graduates highly value employers who treat their early careers as continuous educational journeys, offering funded pathways to market credentials such as ACII status. By combining outreach to academic institutions with clear commitments to professional development, London brokerages can successfully compete against other sectors for the best talent.
Turning confidence into action
At Burns & Wilcox Global Solutions, we recognise that the future strength of the London market will depend not only on its technical expertise and global reach, but on its ability to attract, develop and retain the next generation of broking talent. The findings are encouraging: brokers remain highly positive about their profession and confident about the industry’s prospects.
But confidence alone will not secure the market’s future. It must compete harder for talent, build stronger routes into the profession and ensure the next generation sees insurance broking as a dynamic, technology-enabled and globally relevant career. The question is not whether the market remains optimistic – the findings show that it does. The real question is whether that optimism is translated into the long-term investment in people, skills and visibility needed to sustain London’s position as the world’s leading specialty insurance market.