The financial services reforms have confused empowering consumers with overpowering them, National Insurance Brokers Association CEO Noel Pettersen told a conference last week.

But he says the reforms have proved to be only one part of a significant shift in the way the broking sector goes about its business.

Speaking at the Insurance Law Congress in Sydney, he said the best protection for consumers is a strong industry that offers quality, trust and value.

“This is where the question of regulation, self-regulation and even over-regulation comes in. Empowering the consumer is one thing; overpowering them with unhelpful information and paperwork is another.”

Mr Pettersen says the global industry is facing a new era of compliance. “Much of what has taken place in Australia is being replicated to varying degrees in other parts of the world – South Africa, the UK and Canada, for example.”

Raising the bar for insurance brokers is integral to their continuing success, and specialised broking qualifications based on accredited national competency standards are helping meet that ideal.

“By the end of this year we aim to have a new tertiary-level qualification for top brokers wishing to attain a Masters degree specialising in insurance broking.”

Mr Pettersen says insurance brokers who don’t deliver a high standard of service and cover at realistic prices cannot expect to survive in the future business environment.

“These days broker size has polarised, with relatively few large firms – mainly multinationals – and many small and medium-sized firms that have merged or been taken over. It’s mainly the smaller players that are commercially vulnerable to market change.

“We live in a busy, uncertain world where there’ll be an even greater need for specialist help. If brokers are simply salesmen selling insurance, it’s an industry on shaky ground.

“But if brokers – particularly small brokers – see what they do as providing a client-driven service, not just a product for a price, then their future is in good shape.”