Brokers seem to make the insurance world go round. For a journalist, at least, brokers are the best people to talk to about any topic that involves the industry, because they tend to have the broadest perspective. After all, they have to be able to facilitate a conversation between two parties to make their value known and appreciated.
As of late, all parties across the insurance value chain need to become more than just risk transfer managers – as the world becomes more complex and interconnected, the demands laid at the feet of industries such as insurance increases. Brokers are obviously not exempt from this evolution of the industry, and over the past few years, they seemed to have become experts in all kinds of fields.
From talent acquisition to technology implementation to product development, brokers have increased the scope of their offerings over the past decade, and it appears that any problem an insurer might have could be solved by talking to a broker about it.
It is an exaggeration, of course; there are many more niche and specialised tools that the industry needs to utilise that a broker cannot offer. It only highlights the increasingly complex nature of risk in the modern world and the challenges that the industry faces in trying to manage and transfer these risks.
The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report talks about an increasingly fractured global landscape, “where escalating geopolitical, environmental, societal and technological challenges threaten stability and progress”. This year’s survey respondents rated economic risks as less prominent, but it remains interconnected with societal and geopolitical tensions.
Unsurprisingly, state-based armed conflict was identified as the most immediate global risk for 2025. “Rising geopolitical tensions, a fracturing of global trust and the climate crisis are straining the global system like never before,” said World Economic Forum managing director Mirek Dušek. “In a world marked by deepening divides and cascading risks, global leaders have a choice: to foster collaboration and resilience, or face compounding instability. The stakes have never been higher.”
While the report noted that the survey’s respondents – which included global risks experts, policymakers and industry leaders – were less optimistic about the decade ahead, this sentiment is also shared by regular people on the ground. There is a sense of mild doom and despair that seems to pervade social media, especially when it concerns geopolitics and the current cost-of-living rates. Even formerly exciting technological advancements such as AI and robotics have become causes for worry, as people fear losing their incomes to tireless machines.
However, getting people aware of risks is not always a bad thing, especially for insurance. COVID-19 saw a surge in health insurance purchases, as people suddenly became acutely aware of their own mortality. The seemingly unstable state of the world could also drive a greater awareness and demand for insurance, and it comes down to the industry being able to provide the sense of security and stability that people need. M
Ahmad Zaki
Editorial director
Middle East Insurance Review