As he begins his presidency this week, the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Peter Blanc is calling on the profession to address the unmet needs of society and show the true value of advice.

“The insurance and personal finance profession needs to work together to address the unmet needs that exist today – everything from climate change and flooding to cyber risk, scams, later-life care and protection gaps,” he said. “All the drivers in society today tend to be away from advice – they are aiming to cut out the middleman and get the quickest deal at the cheapest price but I worry that is not the right answer for the majority of the public.”

The group CEO of one of the UK’s largest – and most acquisitive – chartered insurance brokers Aston Lark, said the CII is evolving and, as CII CEO Sian Fisher steps down at the end of March, he feels this is a key time to make good use of member feedback from the recent member consultation. Proposals contained in the consultation included making the qualification framework and learning provision more user-friendly, accessible, and capable of meeting the future learning needs of all students.

“My aims as president will be to support the current and new CEO in any way I can while working to further the CII agenda in building public trust in the insurance and personal finance profession, and make sure we are effective in solving unmet needs and underlining the importance of advice in society,” he said.

Sian Fisher, CEO of the CII, added: “Our Royal Charter requires us to work to secure and justify the confidence of the public in the financial planning and insurance professions. Above all, we want to ensure that what we do – and how we do it – helps our members to support their clients in becoming more financially resilient and achieving their financial goals.

“As a key enabler of the 21st century economy, it is vital that our family of professions – together with their professional body – continue to evolve in step with the modern world. Which is why we look forward to working with Peter in continuing his predecessor Julie Page’s presidential work on unmet needs as well as using the feedback we received from the consultation to help shape the future of our profession, the CII Group, and the societies and local institutes that exist within it.”

The CII will share the findings of its consultation later this year.

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