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FIA hosts annual World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries meeting

29 March 2012 The Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA)

A key theme that emerged from the annual World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (WFII) World Council meeting, which was recently held in Cape Town and was hosted by the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA), was the standardi

According to Brian van Flymen, President of the FIA, it was a privilege for the FIA to represent the African continent by hosting this year’s prestigious meeting, which aims to formulate global views and policies regarding issues such as remuneration, regulatory changes and professional conduct. “What was clear from this meeting is that regulators are clearly making an effort to globalize the views and guidelines for financial intermediaries.”

The WFII currently represents over 400 000 professional intermediaries, belonging to over 100 national associations located in over 80 countries across the world, who handle the vast majority of insurance placements globally. WFII was formally established in Washington D.C. in January 1999 with the FIA as a founding member representing the African continent and the FIA president at the time being elected as the vice president/chairman of WFII.

“This year, WFII members were fortunate to be addressed by a number of high profile industry representatives,” says van Flymen.

Jonathan Dixon, Deputy Executive Officer of the Financial Services Board (FSB), shared the core principles that have been set by the International Association for Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), which revealed there is still a large amount of uncertainty regarding the way insurance intermediaries - especially those operating in the Long Term and financial planning environments - should be remunerated for their services and advice.

Kristel Van de Elst, Head of Strategic Foresight of the World Economic Forum (WEF), provided a detailed review of factors and threats, such as natural disasters and population growth, which are currently impacting the identification of insurable risks for the global insurance industry.

Van Flymen says a huge accomplishment for the FIA - and the broader South African financial services industry – was the news of the election of Seamus Casserly, past president of the FIA, as the incoming Chairperson for WFII for 2013 at this year’s meeting. “This appointment proves that the global insurance industry is increasingly recognising the important role that both the South African and African insurance industries play in the industry. Regulation and legislation in the financial services space is increasingly becoming a global effort rather than country specific and we are pleased that South Africa is taking a leading role in these developments.”

“We are honored to have a South African selected to represent and lead African intermediaries for the next two years, through important industry changes and challenges they face. Furthermore, we have recognised the need for the FIA to support fellow African countries and associations and aim to make this a priority going forward.”

Jaap Meijers, outgoing Chairman of WFII, says WFII is all about the exchange of information to create a single voice that speaks to industry supervisors and regulators about the direction in which intermediaries should be going.

“Members were very pleased that the event was held in South Africa this year as it gave us the opportunity to highlight the strides forward the South African intermediary industry has made but also gave international intermediaries the opportunity to discuss global insurance trends and issues. Much progress was made during the meeting and it proved again that the rules we all follow need to be set at the international level,” concludes Meijers.

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