The Chartered Insurance Institute has confirmed that Alan Vallance will leave his position as chief executive in Spring 2024 to take up the equivalent role at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Vallance was appointed to the role in April last year and took over officially from August.
He joined the CII from the Royal Institute of British Architects where he worked for seven years and was chief executive.
“Leading the CII group has been a privilege,” Vallance said.
“Building and maintaining public trust in the insurance, financial planning and mortgage advice professions is essential to every economy around the world, and I am honoured to have had the opportunity to lead a Royal Charter body containing two pre-eminent global professional membership organisations – the CII and PFS.
“The decision to leave was not easy, but I am confident that the group is now in a much stronger position.
“The foundations we have built since 2022 are a solid base on which the Institute will continue to improve the way it serves its members, customers and the wider public for years to come.”
However, some advisers have expressed disappointment at the latest announcement.
Robin Melley, managing director at Matrix Capital Limited, said the CII has “evident issues”, which are clear for most to see and all fairly well documented over the past few years.
“The consistent denial and appalling behaviour of the CII board towards volunteer member directors is something which will be held against the institute for a long time to come, especially as we have seen no transparency and honesty from the CII board regarding its evident failures and issues they have caused,” he said.
Meanwhile, Garry Hale, owner of HK Wealth, added: "Disappointed to see Vallance leave after only a few months in the role and leaves a mess behind with both the CII and PFS.
“Lots of unanswered questions around finances and governance.”
At the time of Vallance's appointment, the CII said it was focussed on modernising the professional body and improving services and value for members wherever they live or work.
The CII had said Vallance would take forward the board’s new strategy and next five-year plan, which would be informed by the Shaping the future together consultation feedback.
He succeeded former interim chief executive Jonathan Clark, who was previously president of both the CII and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters, as well as CII treasurer between 2003 and 2007.
Clark took over from Sian Fisher who announced in 2021 that she would step down after more than six years at the helm of the CII.
Melley said: “Since early 2022, the CII has had three CEOs and now onto its fourth, this speaks volumes about the underlying problems and true state of affairs.
“For the members sake and ultimate future success of the CII, let’s hope that some members of the board do some self-reflection and recognise the need for both strategic and cultural change at the top.”
The CII said it will shortly begin a process to find a replacement for Vallance.
Dr Helen Phillips, group board chairperson at the CII, said: “The CII group is sorry to see Alan leave, but we recognise his desire to take, what is, a unique opportunity to lead the chartered body of his own profession.
“The CII Group board is grateful to Alan for the remarkable job he has done over his tenure, including leading the development and deployment of our new strategic plan.
“We look forward to identifying a successor to Alan soon to build on his strong legacy.”
Elsewhere, in its full-year results ending December 31 2022, published yesterday (October 25), the Personal Finance Society reported total operating expenses of £7.99mn in 2022, of which £0.85mn was towards expert legal and financial advice on the back of the CII saga.
The PFS said operating expenses over the year were £3.22mn higher than in 2021 (£4.77mn).
It said the main reason for the increase related to event costs to support the in-person events held in 2022, such as the Festival of Financial Planning.
The CII has been contacted for comment.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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