Newer brokers climb onto the specialization bandwagon

Newer brokers grasp the need to specialize.

Fully 95% of respondents to CU’s 2026 National Broker Survey who have worked in insurance for 16 or fewer years agree with the statement, “Brokers need to become more specialized to withstand changing technology and sales models.”

By comparison, 88% of mid-career professionals with between 16 and 30 years’ experience and 71% of veterans who’ve been in the business for 31 or more years agree specialization is the way forward. When data for all age groups are aggregated, 87% of 2026 respondents agree specialization is needed to ensure future success, compared with 84% in 2025.

Men (91%) lean somewhat more toward specialization than women (85%), and the strategy is most firmly embraced (90%) by those at large firms with 100 or more people, followed by 86% at firms with 20-to-99 employees and 83% of those at companies with fewer than 20 people.  

Related: Where brokers find new clients in 2026

Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 National Broker Survey heard from 169 brokers, with 32 identifying as brokerage owners or principals. The survey was conducted in February 2026, with support from Sovereign Insurance.

More consistent with prior years, 80% of 2026 respondents say brokers are successfully communicating their value to consumer and business clients. That ties with the 2025 and 2023 responses, and is statistically similar to the 82% who gave that answer in 2024 – but it is still up from 76% during the tail end of the pandemic era in 2022.

Once again, younger brokers (85%) are more likely to say they clearly state their value proposition, compared to 80% of older brokers and 79% of those at mid-career.

Men (85%) are also more likely to say their clients grasp broker value than women (79%).

Related: What our Broker Survey says about team motivation

Meanwhile, brokers’ optimism levels slip slightly in 2026, with 56% of brokers saying they ‘face more opportunities than threats’ this year. That’s down modestly from 59% agreeing with that statement in 2025 and 61% in 2024.

Men (57%) are more likely to say opportunities outweigh threats than women (51%). Veteran (56%) and newer brokers (55%) are more likely to say they see future opportunities than those at mid-career (50%). And brokers at large firms foresee good prospects (67%) at a higher rate than do those at mid-sized firms (49%) and smaller firms (40%).

Lastly, a bit more than half (54%) of respondents agree with the statement, ‘insurance carriers are striking a fair balance between the interests of carriers and brokers.’ That’s down slightly from 56% last year but still better than 51% in 2024 and 48% in both 2023 and 2022.

Tradition Meets Technology: Scaling a Family-Owned, Community-Driven Brokerage Image

Insights Paid Content

Tradition Meets Technology: Scaling a Family-Owned, Community-Driven Brokerage

How MIB is growing across Canada without losing the values, relationships, and local trust that built it.

By 

Sponsor Image

Men are significantly less likely (50%) to see harmony between carrier and broker interests than women (63%). Most cynical are veterans (51%) and those at smaller firms (48%), followed by newer brokers (55%) and those at mid-sized firms (51%).

Brokers who are at mid-career (62%) and those at large firms (67%) are most likely to perceive alignment between carrier and broker interests.

Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.