Within the next two years, nearly a quarter of the insurance industry will be thinking more about golf, grandchildren and a possible move to Florida than about premiums, competition and constructive total losses.

That's because, by 2018, 25 percent of risk management and insurance professionals will be at or near retirement age, according to a McKinsey & Company report. As these experienced employees exit the industry, too few younger workers will be replacing them. Only 27 percent of insurance employees are under the age of 35, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The talent shortage created by the lack of qualified applicants in the hiring pipeline is well documented. But this scarcity is also poised to create a significant dearth of knowledge and experience in the risk management and insurance world. As cohorts of industry professionals walk out of their offices for the last time, they'll take with them a plethora of technical and institutional knowledge that many newer employees have not yet accrued through on-the-job experiences, partnering and coaching with more-seasoned colleagues, and informal or formal educational resources.