High five: Catch up on the biggest exclusive stories this week

Starting off the week, analysis from data reporter George McDade revealed the gender pay gaps at the biggest brokers listed within Insurance Times’ annual Top 50 Brokers report.

• Revealed – the best and worst gender pay gaps at UK brokers

Next, regular contributor and Insurance DataLab co-founder Matt Scott reported that sector leaders are urging brokers to adopt incremental digital transformation rather than “big bang” approaches, highlighting the importance of leadership buy-in and targeted improvements.

• Digital transformation – small steps, big strides

The second of McDade’s pieces this week revealed that insurers’ increasing use of AI and data enrichment to create hyper-personalised underwriting models draw praise and caution, as experts warned about potential bias and financial exclusion risks.

• The risks and rewards of hyper-personalised insurance models

Following this, Harriet Scott reported on the evolving relationship between brokers and MGAs, examining the market to determine whether a heavy reliance on MGAs is impacting competitiveness.

• In Focus: Are brokers relying too heavily on MGAs to place niche risks and is this impacting market competitiveness?

Rounding off the week, Yiannis Kotoulas discussed the importance of claims service for MGAs.

• In Focus: Underwriting is the lifeblood of MGAs, but claims service must not be ignored