LONDON – The global insurance sector faces numerous challenges – including regulatory costs, climate risks and cyber threats – and companies need to foster diverse skills and approaches to successfully address the issues, a panel of senior executives said.

Insurers and brokers should promote inclusiveness, and employees should seek diverse experiences to be better equipped to succeed in the changing environment, they said.

Brokers in the United Kingdom face significant regulatory costs and processes, said Jane Kielty, U.K. CEO of Aon PLC.

While regulation is important, it can account for 3% to 4% of a broker’s revenue and can prevent companies from being nimble, she said during a session at the Business Insurance Women to Watch EMEA Awards and Leadership Conference in London last week.

The new U.K. government’s focus on competitiveness should be welcomed, she said.

“I can already see some of the changes that are happening in our regulation, and I think that’s positive,” said Ms. Kielty, who was one of the 2018 Women to Watch.

Brokers and their clients also face challenges from climate change, cyber and supply chain risks, said Fabrice Domange, CEO and president of Marsh France, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.

Brokers have challenges attracting staff to address the issues that their clients face, he said.

Emerging risks and new regulations are surfacing frequently, said Gabrielle Durisch, chief sustainability officer at Allianz Commercial, a unit of Allianz SE, and one of the 2023 Women to Watch.

“We need fresh, innovative ideas to help us speed up how we change internally so we can help our customers address the changes they’re facing,” she said.

To innovate, the insurance sector needs diversity of opinion and thought, Ms. Durisch said.

“You need to be more inclusive and have people with different opinions, different backgrounds, different experiences, and you need to make sure you’re listening to them,” she said.

Companies also should allow more experimentation, even when the experiments don’t work, said Penny Seach, group chief underwriting officer at Zurich Insurance Group Ltd., and one of the 2023 Women to Watch, who moderated the session.

“We need to stop just using the words ‘It’s okay to fail,’ and we need to actually show that we stand by that,” she said.

People aspiring to leadership roles in the industry should get as much diversity of experience as they can, Ms. Kielty said.

In addition, they should surround themselves with people with a variety of skills and experiences, she said.

“Skills like curiosity and networking, they’re the kinds of things that are going to set you up for success, rather than actually trying to acquire knowledge yourself about everything,” Ms. Kielty said.

People in the industry should look to gain experience in a variety of jobs and locations, but they also sometimes need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to progress their career, Mr. Domange said.

“Our challenge as an organization is to make sure that we create dialogue, and we push people to talk with different organizational teams so they can see the next step,” he said.