CII reveals new key appointments from Aston Lark and Swiss Re

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has appointed  Aston Lark CEO Peter Blanc as president for 2022, taking over from  Aon UK CEO Julie Page.  Swiss Re’s Russell Higginbotham is appointed to the role of deputy president.

Blanc leads one of the largest Chartered Insurance Brokers in the UK with offices across 53 locations in the UK and Ireland. He is also non-executive chairman of Hastings Insurance Services, the broker arm of Hastings Direct, and up until recently served as chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association (BIBA).

In the coming months he will work closely with current CII president and CEO of Aon UK Julie Page, before taking over as president and chair of the president’s Forum on January 1, 2022.

The CII President's Forum was created earlier this year to explore new and emerging risks and ways the insurance profession can address the unmet needs of consumers.

Blanc said: “The pandemic has shone a light on how important it is to have insurance solutions that can keep businesses going, so I look forward to becoming President of the CII in 2022 and continuing the professional body’s amazing work to examine ways to close the gap between what consumers expect insurance services to entail and the reality.

“As a profession it is vital that we get to grips with the cause of the expectation gap and how to better educate consumers around coverage. Having cover in place is essential if our customers are to do and achieve more in the years to come.”

Higginbotham is Swiss Re’s CEO reinsurance Asia and regional president Asia. He is based out of Singapore, and oversees more than 2,000 staff in 11 Asian cities.

Sian Fisher, CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute, commented: “I would like to thank Julie for her excellent, continuing work as President during these challenging times and for her focus on establishing the President’s Forum and ways our profession can address unmet needs.

“I look forward to working closely with Peter as our new President in 2022 and look forward to working with him on how our profession can adapt, evolve and innovate our products and services in order to maintain the importance and relevance of insurance to the customers it serves.”

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.