Liam Carberry - The newly elected President of Brokers Ireland

As the newly elected President of Brokers Ireland, Irish Broker speaks with Liam Carberry on his vision, challenges and aspirations for the coming year.

CONGRATULATIONS Liam on your newly elected role. What lies ahead over the coming year?

I am honoured to be elected as President of Brokers Ireland and I would like to thank the members for granting me the opportunity of this prestigious position.

I plan to serve all Broker interests in the next twelve months to ensure we continue to focus on the issues that are relevant to our members and deliver outcomes that have a positive impact on Brokers’ businesses.

The role of Insurance and Financial Brokers is constantly evolving, and we must always adapt to meet new challenges as they arise. As we face uncertain global economic times with rising inflation, hikes in interest rates, climate change challenges, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, we are starting to experience the negative impact that this is having on financial markets and consumer confidence.

In such times, now more than ever our clients need us to “steady the ship” and give professional guidance across their insurance and financial portfolios. Meeting and being there for our clients will continue to mark us apart from banks and other providers and will grow our position of strength in the market. Brokers hold over 50% of personal lines insurance, almost 100% of commercial lines, and 75% of the life, investment, and pensions market.

Against all odds, mortgage Broking has increased to 40% of that market and these statistics underscore the importance of the Brokers distribution role in the retail intermediary market.

What are the main strategic challenges for the Board of Brokers Ireland?

We have a busy and challenging agenda over the coming year, and I will be vigorous in pursuing our key agenda items to ensure that the Broker’s voice is heard and fully represented.

There are issues of fundamental importance to Brokers that demand our immediate attention. These include:

IORP ll and the withdrawal of executive pension products from the market
PRSA reform
Over-regulation and disproportionate regulation and its burden on Brokers
Differential pricing and its impact on Insurance Brokers
Service levels across life, general and mortgage providers are simply not acceptable and are causing consumer harm
Climate risk and sustainability

The Board of Brokers Ireland is acutely aware of these and other challenges that Brokers face and we are determined to tackle this head-on with all relevant government and industry stakeholders.

How is Brokers Ireland currently addressing the critical issue of IORP ll and the withdrawal of Executive Pension products from the Irish market?

Due to new requirements that IORP II imposed on onemember arrangements (or OMAs) from July this year, all life offices stopped writing new executive pension plans (EPPs).

This has left thousands of small business owners without the ability to fund a pension which is a fraction of the value of the pensions held by the civil servants making these rules. It is estimated that 12,000 people per year are impacted by the withdrawal of OMAs from the market.

Brokers Ireland is proposing two alternative options to bring back OMAs to the market:

Allow OMA master trusts – this could be a relatively quick solution. Brokers Ireland have met with the Pensions Authority and asked that a swift decision be made around exit penalties to allow for the same charging structure as existed in EPPs.
PRSA reform – a better and longer-term solution for OMAs is PRSA reform. We have met with the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Protection to request several changes to both the Pensions Act and the Taxes Consolidation Act through this year’s Finance Bill and Social Welfare Bill. Again, our proposed amendments include provision for exit penalties and pricing flexibility to ensure the same availability of commission and charges exist in any OMA product of the future.

This issue is a No. 1 priority focus for Brokers Ireland, and we are very aware of the impact that it is having on members and their clients. Brokers Ireland has signposted what needs to be done and we will continue to follow this issue carefully to achieve the positive results we seek for Brokers and their clients.

Meeting and being there for our clients will continue to mark us apart from banks and other providers and will grow our position of strength in the market. Brokers hold over 50% of personal lines insurance, almost 100% of commercial lines, and 75% of the life, investment, and pensions market.

What strategic developments are taking place for Insurance Brokers?

We can see that the Insurance Broker market share is holding strong, be it with a reduced number of Insurance Broker members. It is important that Brokers Ireland, as the unified voice for all Brokers, remains relevant to all our members, whether traditional, family-run enterprises or larger more corporate entities.

Moreover, we can state that the merger and acquisition activity in the Insurance Broker sector demonstrates the immense value that wellrun insurance brokerages have.

Brokers Ireland is embracing priorities that will add value for all our members. These include an ongoing challenge to agency terms that fail to recognise the Broker’s ownership of your businesses. We are also working on a submission for the EIOPA consultation on differential pricing, as this issue of differential treatment for the Broker channel and its clients remains a serious problem.

The CBI has failed to acknowledge the consumer harm caused by channel discrimination, which is an error in our view. We will be endeavouring to convince EIOPA to take a broader view of its remit as regards protecting all consumers, irrespective of channel.

We will continue to focus on evolving technological developments and the changing consumer expectations that result from this. Change presents a challenge, but it is also an opportunity that will favour those who choose to go that route and we propose to support our members in embracing technology as well as assisting the traditional Broker.

Brokers Ireland will also be focusing on legislation that impacts Insurance Brokers, including the Motor Insurance Directive to ensure that any legislative changes do not unfairly impact the Insurance Broker distribution channel.

Has Climate Risk and Sustainability become more than an environment issue for Brokers with new regulatory requirements and obligations?

The escalating frequency and severity of extreme weather-related events have focused financial services regulators to act on climate-related risks and disclosure requirements. Last year at their intermediary roadshows, the Central Bank indicated that they would expect Brokers to have considered the impact that sustainability could have on their firm in the future.

It is clear that there is a societal focus on climate change and sustainability, and this also impacts the Broker industry. Given the importance of this issue, earlier this year Brokers Ireland commissioned Deloitte to draft a climate risk guide for members.

The guide was published in July and provides an overview of climate change, its impact on Brokers, and regulatory framework requirements. These include Central Bank expectations, the disclosure requirements under the SFDR, and the changes under the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) concerning advising on Insurance Based Investment Products.

We also recently ran a webinar with Deloitte to outline the requirements, resources, and next steps for our members. This is another complex area for members to get their heads around on top of numerous other regulatory requirements and Brokers Ireland will do their utmost to simplify this for members through developing further guidance and support over the coming months, whilst also liaising with providers.

Is over-regulation still a major constraint for Brokers?

Members consistently point out how they are unfairly impacted by regulations unsuited to their risk profile and how they are steeped in paperwork and compliance requirements.

Challenging the Central Bank of Ireland and and Government by addressing over-regulation and the cost of regulation for SMEs is a pressing issue and again a top agenda item for the year ahead. This disproportionate regulatory burden must be lifted by those who are responsible for policymaking and implementation.

Regulation and compliance remain key areas of focus for Brokers Ireland and this year we are tackling a significant body of work for members in this area including the upcoming review of the Consumer Protection Code; the CBI authorisation and PCF approval process; Assisted Decision-Making Capacity legislation; work on the CBI’s Individual Accountability Framework Bill and involvement at a European Level on developing legislation through our membership of BIPAR to EIOPA and the European Commission.

From a practical perspective, Brokers Ireland compliance unit has five dedicated compliance staff which is a considerable resource available to Brokers Ireland members as they deal with day-to-day regulation issues.

How are the Insurance and Financial Broker brands making headway with consumers?

The Insurance and Financial Broker brands are evolving beacons in advancing the profile and professionalism of Insurance and Financial Brokers and highlighting their value to consumers.

Over 90% of Brokers are now actively participating in both programmes which enables us to activate greater marketing endorsement of Insurance and Financial Brokers and ensure that both brands are kept firmly within the mindset of Irish consumers through ongoing public-facing campaigns, development, and initiatives.

In conclusion Liam, what do you hope to achieve from your tenure as President?

Covid-19 has also taught us to streamline some improved practices, and over the last two years, our members have actively embraced Brokers Ireland virtual events and webinar sessions.

We were delighted that our first inperson Meet the Market Day industry networking event in over three years took place in September in the RDS where over 70 exhibitors and 400 Insurance Brokers attended on the day.

This kind of face-to-face exchange and connectivity is unbeatable and something that we have all missed over the last two years. Through more frequent face-to-face members meetings, I would like to actively meet and exchange ideas and discussions with fellow Brokers over the next year.

As always, our members’ feedback is essential in helping us to improve our standard of communication, support services, and technical advice to members. I would also like to acknowledge the head office team in Brokers Ireland for their efficiency and responsiveness in issuing direction and support to members, particularly over the last two years.

They provide continuity in delivering important guidance and resources which I believe is a testament to their collective desire to demonstrate excellent service to our members. The Board of Brokers Ireland is committed to prioritising objectives that embody the real and current challenges facing Irish Brokers and I will ensure that the core principles of representation, lobbying professionalism, and support will remain steadfast to our members.

With a combined strength of 1,250 Broker firms, we possess the strength to leverage the best interests of our members and exploit this to our advantage in representing our community. In an era of digitalisation and automation, we see a growing need for the services offered by Brokers, and we will continue to highlight to consumers, via the Insurance Broker and Financial Broker brands, the value of taking expert and experienced advice when purchasing insurance and financial services products.

It is an honor and a privilege to represent my fellow Brokers as their President and I look forward to building on the solid foundations that already exist in our Association.

In an era of digitalisation and automation, we see a growing need for the services offered by Brokers, and we will continue to highlight to consumers, via the Insurance Broker and Financial Broker brands, the value of taking expert and experienced advice when purchasing insurance and financial services products.

As the newly elected President of Brokers Ireland, Irish Broker speaks with Liam Carberry on his vision, challenges and aspirations for the coming year.

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