Personalizing the Pathway to Executive Leadership

Written by: Lisa A. Stevens , Director of Executive Development, LIMRA and LOMA

February 2025

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Growth and talent management are two priorities weighing on the minds of life insurance industry leaders, according to the Boston Consulting Group and LIMRA’s 2023 What's on the Minds of Life Insurance Executives study. And the ability to attract and retain talent is a key opportunity to addressing organizational growth.

The industry continues to face a monumental shift when it comes to talent. By 2036, 50 percent of the current insurance workforce will retire, leaving over 400,000 unfilled positions, and this number is accelerating. Nearly all functional areas within the industry will be challenged to replace talent, with many next-generation leaders showing little interest in insurance careers. In 2021, less than 25 percent of the industry was under age 35, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2024, the LIMRA and LOMA Strategic Leadership Experience executive program saw a 10 percent increase in Millennial executives from the prior year, which suggests a shift in the industry’s next-generation talent pool.

Build, Buy or Borrow

When it comes to growing the next generation of industry executives, concerns are real as organizations consider whether to “buy” or “borrow” versus “build”/accelerate the development of existing internal leaders to position them to assume larger transformational roles in the next five to 10 years. Buying talent is a strategic approach to hiring new employees from external sources to meet a company's needs. Borrowing talent is often leveraged as an approach when short-term talent resources are needed via hiring contractors or other temporary staff. While information is not readily available regarding the percentage of insurance companies buying versus building/accelerating the development of talent, many organizations view such opportunities as a balancing act.

Companies assuming a “buy” approach find value in fresh perspectives and experiences gained from both talent within and external to the industry, or to fill capability gaps in areas such as digital transformation, data and analytics, technology and consumer experience, etc., in which the greater organization can learn from and build future talent. In some cases, lengthy learning curves and culture fit become challenges as a result of buying talent. With the focus on return to office, many companies ...

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Related:

Join our next LinkedIn Live episode of Industry Insights With Bryan Hodgens on February 25 at 2 p.m. ET: How Intermediaries Help Financial Professionals Grow Their Practice

Register to attend the 2025 LIMRA Distribution and Marketing Conference March 3 - 5.