February 3rd, 2026
When I joined the insurance profession two and half decades ago, I thought insurance was a set of settled facts to be copied and memorized. Oops! That belief took a hard knock, recently.
Insurance, unlike other financial offerings, is excessively distinctive. It is a specialized area of practice that needs precise dexterity. In fact, we are told that as a career, insurance blends well with someone who has a combination of experience and technical education. Recent research has revealed that it takes at least seven years [10,000-hour rule] for one to be an all-rounder in insurance matters. According to the survey, the period is shorter for those who take technical studies.
Ask practitioners who have been in the industry for twenty years or more and they will persuasively tell you that standards and general knowledge in our market are deteriorating. At the Insurance Institute annual conference, I overheard someone lamenting that in the old days, a commitment to achieve the highest level of technical skills and expertise was the focus of every practitioner.