How brokers dial in client trust

Confidence is a beautiful thing — and it’s something brokers have in spades.

Fully 96% of brokers responding to 2025’s National Broker Survey say they’d refer to themselves as a ‘trusted advisor on insurance and risk matters.’ And there’s only a slight divide between the percentage of women (97%) and men (95%) who feel that way.

What’s more, 2025’s number is actually slightly down from the 98% who saw themselves as trusted advisors when responding to both the 2024 and 2023 surveys.

But more importantly, this year’s survey data breaks down some of the things P&C professionals view as essential to developing the knowledge and skills that can lead to client trust.

Topping the list are training and certification bodies, such as the Insurance Institute of Canada and Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario. This year’s survey finds 80% of broker respondents saying those organizations are key to trust, up 5% from totals seen in 2023 and 2024. Women respondents are more likely to see training and certification bodies as important to clients’ trust (89%) than men (67%).

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Further, they’re more valued by mid-career brokers with between 16 and 30 years in the business (83%) and by those at midsized firms with between 20 and 99 employees (81%). Conversely, they’re least valued by newer brokers (77%) who’ve been in the business 16 or fewer years, and by those at smaller firms (78%) with fewer than 20 employees.

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In verbatim responses, survey respondents say in-house training programs at brokerages and the peer networks built at those firms help them develop skills. And one veteran respondent credits the “brokerage supporting internal methods of communication and updates” with guiding peers to gain both hard and soft skills.

Mentors are also a major factor in broker development, with 80% of 2025 respondents saying the lessons they teach are key to trust. That’s up from 74% last year. Again, women, at 83%, find mentors more valuable than men, at 73%.

Mentorship is more valued by mid-career brokers (83%) and those at mid-sized firms (87%). Newer brokers and veterans are tied, with 77% of both groups saying mentorship brings the know-how and skills needed to establish client trust.

Carriers’ literature and websites are popular sources of industry knowledge for 71% of survey respondents this year, up from 68% in 2024. They are most popular with women (76%), veteran brokers with 31 or more years in the business (75%), and those at smaller firms (74%).

And in-person or virtual events put on by carriers are viewed as good knowledge-builders by 65% of this year’s survey respondents, compared with 55% last year and in 2023. Women respondents, at 68%, find them somewhat more useful than men, at 63%.

Further, 69% of both newer brokers and those at mid-sized firms say carrier events help them gain skills that can build client trust.

Canadian Underwriter’s 2025 National Broker Survey was fielded between Jan. 22 and Feb. 20, with 165 responses. For most question sets, respondents were able to choose multiple answers, so totals will not always equal 100%. The survey is supported by Sovereign Insurance.

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.