The new alliance between the financial services sector's chartered bodies has already seen benefits in the availability of qualifications, Simon Culhane has said.
The chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment said the Chartered Body Alliance had already run two dedicated marketing campaigns and it is committed to doing more to raise professionalism and trust in the industry.
The Chartered Body Alliance was launched in March between the Chartered Insurance Institute, the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments and the Chartered Banker Institute to enhance the reputation of the financial services industry.
Mr Culhane said: "One tangible benefit of the alliance is the ability to offer qualifications from the alliance to our customers, so in Africa we have launched a joint partnership with the CII to deliver a new bancassurance qualification.
"Africa's growing bancassurance market demands qualified professionals to guide clients through the insurance process and this award in bancassurance is an important first step in career development in this area."
Mr Culhane said 2017 had also been a successful year for the CISI's Financial Planning Week, which was created to make sure financial guidance is for every consumer, not just the wealthy.
He said: "We received over 300 consumer telephone calls, with many more being directed by individual UK financial planning firms.
"Over 400 delegates attended our Financial Planning Conference this year with a stunning line up of 40 speakers. Many of our wealth management firms are now fully integrating financial planning into their customer offer and our financial planning forum is seeing significant growth."
Another highlight identified by the professional body was the CISI announcing its new level six pension transfers and planning advice qualification in September following FCA approval.
A total of 88 candidates signed up for the recent first sitting.
damian.fantato@ft.com
