Half of senior managers should have advanced diploma

Insurers and intermediaries should ensure that at least half their senior team is qualified to Advanced Diploma in Insurance level, a pan-industry task force has recommended.

The Almondbury declaration, published today by the Chartered Institute of Insurance’s task force on raising industry standards, contains a a suite of recommendations.

The group of industry heavyweights, which was chaired by Fortis CEO and CII chairman Barry Smith, says that intermediaries should ensure that at least half their operational management team has an Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII) qualification.

At least half of insurers’ senior underwriting management teams and senior claims management teams should be qualified to the same level, according to the declaration.

Insurers should also ensure those people in key leadership and management positions, for example broker relationship managers and risk managers, are members of an appropriate professional body and hold relevant professional qualifications.

Underwriting agencies should ensure their lead underwriters are qualified to advanced diploma level.

The task force also recommends that insurers should meet the criteria for corporate Chartered Insurer status within relevant business divisions while intermediaries should meet Chartered Insurance Brokers status.

Acknowledging that its proposals are “ambitious”, the task force calls on the industry to ensure that its recommendations are fully implemented by December 2013.

The report says its package of recommendations, if implemented will “send out a strong message to the marketplace.”

“It will reinforce the differentiation between insurance and certain other aspects of financial services, such as banking, which have come in for widespread criticism due to the dearth of professional qualifications held by senior executives. In short, it will demonstrate that where professionalism is concerned, ‘we get it’.”

It says that decision to set the benchmark at ‘at least half’ recognizes that members of senior management teams may be qualified in other technical areas, for example as actuaries. However, it says, that no firm should fall below the 50% minimum threshold.

It says that YouGov polling shows that members of the public trust chartered status more than any other qualification.