Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland Diversity Survey shows that 34% of insurers and brokers have an active Diversity & Inclusion strategy in place

• 69% of large organisations said that hybrid working has improved diversity at their company.
• 35% of small firms, 73% of medium firms and 100% of large firms have either one or multiple networks in place relating to D&I interests.
• 34% of respondents have an active Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) strategy in place compared to 27% in 2021
• 47% of the respondents said that D&I is a Board and Executive agenda item compared to 39% in 2021
• 19% of respondents have either a full or part time D&I resource in place, compared to 14% in 2021
• 27% of senior leaders in the sector are women (Board, C-suite for Insurance Ireland members and director for Brokers Ireland companies)

Issued 7th September, 2022.  The second survey on diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the insurance sector, conducted by Deloitte Ireland on behalf of Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland across 153 brokers and 47 insurance companies, shows that 34% of respondents have an active D&I strategy in place, an increase of 7% from 2021.

For the 2022 survey, Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland wanted to determine whether hybrid working as improved diversity for the organisation. The greatest impact was seen in large organisations with 69% of respondents saying that hybrid working did impact diversity. However, the impact was not as strong for smaller organisations with only 12% of small firms stating that hybrid working impacted diversity and 56% saying it was non applicable.

Similar to 2021, it is evident that female representation within higher levels of the organisation remain low, with higher representation in non-managerial roles. Women account for 53% of the total workforce (down 1% from 2021) and are under-represented at senior level, representing 27% (the 2021 was similar at 26.5%) of senior leadership roles (Board, C-suite for Insurance Ireland members and director for Brokers Ireland companies).

Larger companies are more likely to have a stronger focus on D&I, with 73% of medium sized companies (51-249 employees) stating that D&I is a Board agenda item, rising to 100% in the largest companies (250+ employees).  73% of medium sized companies have an active D&I strategy in place, rising to 100% for large companies.  And 20% of medium sized companies have a full or part time D&I resource, rising to 92% in the largest companies.  The results for small companies are much lower, however, they still show an increase from 2021. 39% (up 14% from 2021) stated that D&I is a Board agenda item; 22% (up 14% from 2021) have an active D&I strategy in place and 10% (up 3% from 2021) have a full or part time D&I resource.  However, it is important to note that 56% of the companies surveyed in this category have only 1-4 employees.

In addition to the above, 35% of small firms, 73% of medium firms and 100% of large firms have either one or multiple networks in place relating to D&I interests. Diversity networks, also referred to as ‘employee resource groups’ or ‘affinity networks’, are initiated to inform, support and advance employees with similar social identities.

Speaking about the survey results, Moyagh Murdock, CEO of Insurance Ireland, said: “Better Diversity, Equity and Inclusion allows organisations to be more inclusive and able to embrace different ideas, cultures and lifestyles, leading to improved company culture. A perfect example is the Women in Finance Charter, launched earlier this year. It aims to promote greater gender diversity, inspire and empower the next generation of women to pursue and advance careers in finance. Women remain dramatically underrepresented in senior leadership positions across the financial services industry but the Charter is an important stepping stone in the right direction”.

Diarmuid Kelly, CEO of Brokers Ireland, said “Brokers Ireland is again delighted to be part of the 2022 industry Diversity Survey in collaboration with Insurance Ireland. In comparing the results to last year, it is encouraging to see a positive upturn across several key 2022 findings and observe progress in aspiring to more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. Diversity matters and the insights gleaned from the 2022 report can be applied in developing new initiatives in driving real progress and improved outcomes for our industry.”

Speaking on the collaboration between Insurance Ireland, Brokers Ireland and Deloitte on the Diversity Survey 2022, Ciara Regan, Partner and Insurance Lead for Deloitte Ireland said: “We’re delighted that Deloitte has partnered with Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland for two years running in the development of this report. It’s very encouraging to see that there has been an upward movement of DEI in the insurance sector, and we hope to see this trend continue.”