In Focus: The impending ‘peril’ of underinvesting in reinsurance talent

As the (re)insurance sector grapples with an ageing workforce and increasing competition for skilled professionals, the talent crisis facing the industry is no great secret.

However, to assume the reinsurance market’s issues identically reflect the insurance sector’s would be misleading.

When it comes to the London market, there are distinct hurdles to overcome, especially when attracting talent for roles requiring specialised knowledge and understanding of complex, evolving global risks and regulations.

This has led to fewer young people in the reinsurance sector. In a London Market Group (LMG) report published last year, entitled London Matters research results, it was revealed that 24% of London market employees were over 50, mirroring the proportion under 30 – this is compared to broader financial services, where only 18% are over 50 and 23% under 30.

The research also showed that the London market’s employee headcount increased by 40% from 2021 to 2023, highlighting a boom in available roles during recent years.

Jacqueline Girow, executive director at the London and International Insurance Brokers’ Association (Liiba), noted that, despite a big increase in candidate interest for roles within the London market – including university graduates and school leavers looking for entry level roles – the market does not “tend to see such a high level of interest for reinsurance, as opposed to insurance, roles”.

She continued: “We have made great inroads within colleges and universities in recent years, helping to promote insurance as a first-choice career.

“However, reinsurance is still a relatively unknown industry for students considering a career in insurance, particularly when compared to other areas of the market and especially outside of London. While the London market is a sizeable centre for reinsurance, it has more competition globally in terms of attracting talent.”

Seeing a similar picture, Jake Hatfield Larkin-Collins, global human resources lead at Gallagher Re, explained that one of the main challenges in attracting new talent to the reinsurance industry was visibility, because “many early-career professionals and students are unfamiliar with reinsurance or its vital role in global risk management”.

He added: “This lack of exposure means the industry often loses out to sectors like technology and consulting, which are more prominent in academic settings and offer aggressive recruitment strategies.”

What should (re)insurance look like?

Tom Spier, chief commercial officer at (re)insurance platform Supercede, said that one of the main hindrances to the broader appeal of the reinsurance sector was the fact that the industry had “made itself look more complex than it actually is and that’s scaring off smart, capable talent”.

He explained: “We’ve wrapped everything in acronyms and legacy processes, then wondered why younger professionals aren’t inspired to join.

“The real issue isn’t that reinsurance is too niche – it’s that we’ve failed to communicate its relevance and impact.”

Similarly, Spier emphasised that the industry’s ability to retain talent had suffered for the same reason.

He continued: “Too often, high performers plateau in middle management because we haven’t equipped them with the tools, autonomy or visibility to lead. Development pathways rely more on time served than talent demonstrated.”

Allegra Vidal, head of people in Asia, Europe and (re)insurance at AHJ Miller, told Insurance Times that as the reinsurance sector is specialist by nature there is “often a less defined career path for employees to follow”.

She said: “To this point, there tend to be fewer structured programmes to prepare middle managers for senior roles.

“This is an issue further compounded by an ageing workforce, which could lead to loss of institutional knowledge if not adequately managed. However, that’s not to say support and development programmes aren’t available, they just need to become more commonplace.”

Equally, in looking to invest in the future of reinsurance and broking, Louisa Blain, partner and human capital insurance leader at Aon, told Insurance Times that identifying the future of the different sectors in the reinsurance market is fundamental to a strategy to attract and upskill talent.

She explained that it was vital to broadly define the skills that would be required for bringing in future industry participants who understand the different types of emerging risk.

“Given the pace of change within the sector, we also need those that can orchestrate change for us, as well [bringing in] different types of skills and [people] that can really encourage new ways of working,” she continued.

Heightened competition

With a sudden growth in awareness of the impending crisis, this year has seen the highest number of reinsurance roles posted in the actuarial and pricing space, as well as a notable increase in hiring for underwriting and broking roles to meet the demanding skill sets required.

This was according to Charlotte Wright, associate director for non-life actuarial in UK, Europe and Bermuda at Acumen recruitment, who told Insurance Times that reinsurers are “bolstering down” and growing out their teams.

For example, the recent “$1bn cash injection” invested into IQUW Re’s Bermuda branch proves that there is a lot more re insurance going around than seen before, she explained.

While this demand has skyrocketed, she also explained that it has become a more competitive space to recruit in, because “larger companies are overpaying to attract talent in the market”.

Furthermore, Wright observed that increased competition for this skill set has led to capable talent in insurance being “slightly more hesitant” to compete with reinsurance candidates. In terms of demographics, she explained that the younger generations were more likely to “take the leap” than seasoned professionals.

She said: “We try and educate clients to the best of our ability and explain that the market is extremely tough right now and that they need to [approach recruitment differently] to speed up.

“Otherwise, [recruitment agencies] will be having the same conversation in six to nine months time when there’s a red flag around that vacancy because it’s been open for so long.”

Bridging the gaps

To create opportunities, Larkin-Collins believes that the reinsurance market must work harder in appealing to a broader and more diverse talent pool “not only to reflect the global nature of the risks managed, but to unlock the full spectrum of ideas and perspectives that drive innovation”.

A key aspect of this, Blain said, is identifying the future of each sector and what data approach is needed to define its requirements and skill gaps – such as using psychometric tools to understand the skills people have in a business.

By utilising this data-led approach, she said: “We can be very targeted with how we source and close those gaps, specifically sourcing [candidates] in a different way and from different talent pools.”

Also looking to close gaps in the talent pipeline, Ameena Sameja, head of people at Hiscox Re and ILS, told Insurance Times that Hiscox launched a new approach to learning and development earlier in 2025 following a review.

Sameja said that as ”(re)insurance careers are not always well understood outside the industry”, it is important to showcase transferable skills and opportunities available – such as ”the role they play in supporting communities to rebuild following disasters”.

She said: “Retaining talent means creating meaningful internal opportunities for growth and development.

“To that end, we’ve done a lot of work recently to articulate what great leadership looks like at Hiscox. As part of this, we’ve developed a global leadership framework and leadership programmes that focus on the skills and behaviours that set us apart from our peers.”

The ‘peril’ of not looking to the future

Futureproofing a talent pipeline is also essential to ensure that the sector remains effective for years to come. 

For example, the International Underwriting Association’s (IUA) senior market committees for underwriting and claims practitioners have adopted a set of objectives for developing new talent, underwriting and claims executive, IUA Futures Lead Emisela Metalia commented.

Launched for the purpose of helping new practitioners during the first five years of their careers, the IUA Futures scheme is designed to enable recruits to accumulate a professional network of peers.

Metalia, who was promoted to her position this May, said that “the aim is to ensure that there is effective succession planning so that, as vacancies arise in the market, there are candidates available with the right skills and experience to fill them.”

With a wave of experienced professionals nearing retirement, the market faces a potential succession vacuum – making early-career support schemes crucial for future talent continuity.

Girow noted that it can be difficult to demonstrate a clear and direct correlation between the current financial investment in talent initiatives and how this may benefit profit margins in the future, but that it was vital nonetheless.

She concluded: “However, we know that, as a market, we need to secure that investment over the next few years if we are to avoid a huge talent gap, as people retire and competition to secure experienced personnel increases.

“The London insurance market’s [unique selling point] is based on being a vibrant centre of excellence based on experience, relationships and adaptability and it is the responsibility of the market as a whole to make sure we retain this enviable position. We underinvest in talent at our own peril.”