The CEO of one of Australia’s two largest broking networks has backed up findings in Insurance Business’ Brokers on Insurers Survey 2014 with suggestions the industry could be more "mature" in one particular area.

Brokers who make more use of employee share plans to engage and motivate their employees to think and act more like business owners could improve productivity by 15%.

The ‘frictional cost’ involved in the insurance distribution chain – of which insurance broker remuneration is a large part – has been tabled by a panel of industry leaders as facing pressure from both customers and competition.

Allianz broker chief David Hosking claims insurer investments in big data should be designed to improve – not replace – customer service, and that the future of risk pooling is assured.

An expert on the disruptive potential of technology has diagnosed insurance broking and other insurance intermediaries as potential candidates for disruption by new technology.

The president of NIBA David Wyner has opened the association’s convention in Adelaide by warning against ‘unnecessary and ineffective’ regulation that could cause ‘collateral damage’ for brokers and their businesses.

As NIBA's annual convention begins in Adelaide, CEO Dallas Booth has said brokers doing business like they were five years ago need to rethink their plans, and that providing value to clients will ensure they ‘own the future'.

A global brokerage sees the addition of a well-respected local brokerage in Queensland as a ‘complement’ to its offering and growth plans in the Australian market.