22 October 2025
Insights on Brokers' Role in Evolving Insurance Markets
The LIIBA report, ``The Innovation Imperative: Why Brokers Matter More Than Ever'' (October 2025), highlights specialty brokers’ critical role in addressing a $2.5 trillion protection gap driven by cyber, climate, geopolitical, and intangible asset risks. Brokers dedicate 25% of their time to innovation, acting as analysts and connectors to design solutions like Marsh's data center coverage, though challenges like market fragmentation and regulatory barriers persist. Tools like Arkline Command, leveraging AI for real-time risk insights, could enhance brokers' ability to innovate and manage emerging risks effectively.
Introduction
The latest LIIBA (London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association) report, "The Innovation Imperative: Why Brokers Matter More Than Ever ", “The Innovation Imperative: Why Brokers Matter More Than Ever” (Gracechurch and Trimstone Partners, October 2025), makes one thing clear: brokers are no longer just intermediaries — they are innovators. At Arkline, we’re building tools that make this innovation faster, auditable, and data-driven.
A Risk Landscape in Flux
The report paints a vivid picture of how digital dependency, climate volatility, and geopolitical tension are reshaping risk:
- Average cyber breach costs reached $4.88 million.
- Insured natural catastrophe losses hit $137 billion in 2024.
- Trade bottlenecks now affect nearly 20 % of global commerce.
- Intangible assets make up about 90 % of S&P 500 value.
These trends have expanded the protection gap — the difference between emerging risks and the industry’s capacity to respond — to $2.5 trillion by 2022. As the report notes, “closing the protection gap requires more than incremental change. It demands a transformation in how risk is understood, mitigated, and transferred — and brokers are at the centre of this shift.*”
Brokers as Innovators
Survey data show that brokers now devote roughly 25 % of their time to innovation-related tasks: client advisory, risk consultation, product development, and modelling — nearly matching time spent on placement itself.
Examples such as Marsh’s data-centre coverage and the Ukraine grain-corridor facility demonstrate how brokers identify needs, design solutions, and secure capacity where insurers might otherwise hesitate. In this “persuasion economy,” brokers act as analysts, specialists, and connectors.
Yet this innovation work faces barriers: viewing brokers merely as distribution cost, restrictive licensing, and limited access to cross-market data. The LIIBA report’s recommendations — from expanding regulatory sandboxes to encouraging shared data ecosystems — all point toward the same goal: better tools for smarter decisions.
How Arkline Supports the 25 %
That is precisely where Arkline Command fits. Built around agentic AI, Arkline scans breaking news and regulatory updates to turn unstructured information into auditable pricing signals and risk insights.
It helps brokers:
- Detect emerging exposures in real time across cyber, marine, and specialty lines.
- Generate AI-crafted policy wordings for new or evolving risks.
- Monitor which news items trigger model adjustments, quantifying impact instantly.
- Strengthen client advisory with transparent, data-driven evidence.
In short, Arkline converts that 25 % of innovation time into a measurable advantage — allowing brokers to experiment, respond, and lead.
The Bigger Picture
While MGAs continue to grow — with 57 % of carriers planning to increase capacity allocations — brokers remain the connective tissue ensuring market coherence and long-term stability. Innovation platforms like Arkline reinforce that role, not replace it.