The Insurance Institute of London names Swiss Re head as president

The Insurance Institute of London (IIL) has appointed Russell Higginbotham, the global head of life and health products for Swiss Re, as president.

Higginbotham succeeds Dominic Christian, chief executive officer of Aon UK, and is joined by deputy president Roger Sanders, who is the managing director of group employee benefits at Lighthouse Group.

Higginbotham commented: “I feel privileged to lead the IIL at this exciting time. Over the last seven years, membership of the Institute has grown by over 52 percent to well over 23,500 – that’s about half of all the people who work in insurance in London. This means the IIL is one of the largest professional bodies in the country.

“On behalf of our members, I wish to truly thank Dominic Christian for his work during his IIL presidency. He has been an outstanding leader and motivational force that has got the IIL to this prominent position.

“The theme of my IIL presidency is technology. With London being a world leader in the financial technology revolution we have a great opportunity over the next twelve months to bring high quality content and dialogue about the impact of technology to our membership. I hope our insurance professionals will as a result be well-positioned to use technology to its fullest potential so that we stay relevant to our clients and gain deeper insight into their needs."