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Andrew Strange takes on the newly created position of policy director of the Association of Independent Financial Advisers this week.

Mr Strange, who had been the senior policy analyst at Aifa since April 2007, is taking over from outgoing deputy director Fay Goddard, who joins the Personal Finance Society next month.

Prior to joining Aifa, Mr Strange had worked as an IFA, and holds a diploma in financial planning.

In his new position, Mr Strange will lead the policy team in formulating policy on legislative, regulatory and technical issues as well as responses to government and regulatory consultations.

He said: "This is a challenging time for the financial services industry. Clearly the Retail Distribution Review is a key issue for IFAs, so I will be building on the work we have already started with that. The Treating Customers Fairly intiative is also at forefront of advisers' concerns."

Chris Cummings, director general of Aifa, added: "Mr Strange has demonstrated his abilities by leading our work on TCF and the Mifid systems and controls consultation as well as playing a key part in our successful contribution to the RDR.

"With the current issues in the mortgage market and the ongoing debate around TCF and the RDR it is more important than ever that we have a strong trade body representing members’ interests."