May 18, 2025

Ed Howkins, Artificial & Sasa Brcerevic, Aon: Digitising risk trade: the future of wholesale broking (355)

28 minutes

What happens when one of the world’s largest brokers and a digital-first underwriting platform team up to rethink risk trading?

In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Sasa Brcerevic, Head of Portfolio and Delegated Strategy at Aon, and Ed Howkins, Chief Growth Officer at Artificial Labs. Together, they explore the evolving dynamics of wholesale broking, why now is the moment to digitise trading relationships and how insurers can stay competitive in a rapidly transforming landscape.

The conversation offers a timely lens on the market-wide shift toward digital trading – not as a future ambition, but as an active and necessary response to competitive pressure. From the rise of underwriting-as-a-service to brokers leading platform innovation, this episode unpacks what insurers and brokers should be doing now to stay relevant.

Key Talking Points

Digitising the broker–underwriter interface: why transaction execution, not just placement admin, is the next frontier

Strategic momentum: how digitisation moved from side project to boardroom priority across carriers and brokers

Competitive catalysts: why fast movers are already capturing flow and shaping future adoption curves

Platforms not portals: how Artificial is helping brokers remove friction while giving carriers underwriting optionality

A new breed of carrier: exploring the shift from balance sheet-first models to digital risk transformation

The data dividend: why data-rich submissions are changing how insurers allocate capital and differentiate themselves

Incremental innovation: what makes today’s efforts different from past false starts and what good adoption looks like

Reimagining broking: how Aon is investing in technology to build its future operating model

Sustainable advantage: why the biggest long-term gains lie in improving service, not just margin

Time to jump in: why delaying digitisation could leave carriers and brokers on the outside looking in

If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn. You can also contact Ed Howkins and Sasa Brcerevic on LinkedIn to start a conversation!

Continuing Professional Development

This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme.

By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives:

Describe how digitising wholesale broking can improve transactional efficiency and reduce operational friction.

List the key challenges and opportunities in modernising risk trading processes between brokers and carriers.

Explain how intentional digital adoption differs from previous waves of insurance market innovation.

If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 355 page of the InsTech website or email [email protected] to let us know you have listened to this podcast.

To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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