Broker CEO Forum: Rates, talent and regulations among key concerns for 2026

Rate volatility has been revealed as the number one business concern for 2026 among the UK’s largest insurance brokers.

This is according to a lineup of chief executives and senior insurance professionals attending the Insurance Times Broker CEO Forum, speaking on a panel led by law firm Browne Jacobson.

With participants ranking key issues on a scale of importance from one to five – with one being the highest concern and five the lowest – rate volatility, with an average score of 1.92, proved to be top of brokers’ concerns by a wide margin.

Participants particularly highlighted not just the scale of rate changes, but the speed at which the market is softening, particularly after a long period of sustained rates.

The economic environment (2.82), talent retention (3.40) and regulatory burden (3.44) proved the second, third and fourth most pertinent issues.

Panellists pointed towards persistent inflation, fears of a recession, interest rate changes and taxation concerns as key reasons that firms are worried about both growth potential and margin pressures in 2026.

A persistent issue in the sector, talent retention was once again flagged as major worry. It did however prove to be a polarising topic, with nearly 20% of those involved rating it as the most important issue for 2026, while 30% rated it as the least critical issue.

Reporting burden

Despite recent reassurances from the UK government that it was aiming to reduce the reporting burden across the financial sector, the panel felt regulatory changes such as fair value assessments, Consumer Duty and rules surrounding multioccupancy buildings insurance (MOBI) still created an undue burden for firms.

Perhaps surprisingly, the impact of digital disruptions, including artificial intelligence (AI), was the factor ranked as least concerning for 2026, with a score of just 3.72.

While the pace and degree of change was widely recognised, many felt that concerns around such changes were tempered by their inevitability, and would present many opportunities for competitive advantage to industrious brokers.