Russell Higginbotham FCII announced as IIL President for 2016-17

Russell succeeds Dominic Christian, CEO, Aon UK and is joined by new Deputy President Roger Sanders OBE, Cert PFS, Managing Director, Group Employee Benefits, Lighthouse Group plc.

Commenting on his appointment, Russell Higginbotham says “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% 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 IIL is renowned for delivering first class continuing professional development, to those working in financial services as well as general insurance, which it shares with the CII’s membership around the world via podcasts and videos. The lecture programme is a marvellous showcase for the range of expertise here in London. However, we want to maintain our worldwide reputation as a centre of excellence by supporting the next generation as they study to gain their professional qualifications. In addition to our excellent programme of lectures at Lloyd’s and the Insurance Hall, one example of our focus on the future insurance leaders is our recent launch of a pilot qualification mentoring scheme to support students who are working towards the CII’s Advanced Diploma (ACII).

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."