Board Digest

2023 was a busy year for CII and my personal thanks are extended to the CII’s staff, our volunteers and wider membership for all their hard work and wider contributions. At our first meeting of 2024 (2 February) we welcomed our newly appointed Board Members, Yassir Albaharna, Dominic Christian and Nicola Stacey and immediately enjoyed the benefit of their extensive experience. We also said a fond farewell and thank-you to Azlina Bulmer, our Executive Director for Membership and Engagement, who would be leaving the CII at the end of February.

We know that members have been interested in developments around our pilot of Membership by Professional Experience and at this Board meeting we had an opportunity to receive a first-hand account from one of the participants of their experiences. The Board was delighted to hear that the process had been rewarding, whilst demanding, and had given opportunity for great personal reflection. The pros and cons of membership by experience have been debated for some time. Listening to the experiences of someone who has completed the pilot scheme, hearing about the focus on demonstrating impact on the insurance profession and the rigour and robustness of the commitment required to complete the process gave the Board confidence that such a scheme could support senior individuals working in the insurance sector to apply for CII membership, whilst ensuring we continue to maintain the highest professional standards. The Board is very much looking forward to hearing more about how this initiative develops later in the year, so it can make an informed decision on how to move forward. 

In other discussions, the Board heard from Gill White, Acting CEO, and Trevor Edwards, Finance Director on the 2024 Business Plan and received the draft budget for discussion. We heard how the CII intends to achieve its three priorities of increasing revenue, increasing membership volume, and managing overhead costs and welcomed the information that underpinned the achievement of the previous year’s priorities, inviting the Executive to review the budget that would be put forward for approval prior to the next meeting in April.

Routine business of the CII Group Board continued, with an update received from the PFS on the recharge and its governance review. We heard from the Local Institutes, reaffirming our commitment to additional resource to support the network. The Board was pleased to agree the renewal of our International Affiliated Institutions for a further 12-month period.

Our next meeting will be held on 4 April 2024.

Dr Helen Phillips

Chair, CII Group Board