Mr Blanc is also non-executive chairman of Hastings Insurance Services, the broker arm of Hastings Direct, and up until recently served as chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association (BIBA).

He will work closely with current CII president and CEO of Aon UK Julie Page, before taking over as CII president and chair of the President’s Forum on 1 January 2022.

In a statement announcing his appointment Mr Blanc focused on the CII’s work in the insurance space and did not touch on the ongoing controversial plans for CII subsidiary the Personal Finance Society (PFS).

The CII is to launch a consultation with its 125,000 members on the future of the PFS after barring a last-minute no-confidence motion in CEO Sian Fisher at yesterday’s AGM where Mr Blanc’s appointment was announced. 

Mr Blanc said: “The pandemic has shone a light on how important it is to have insurance solutions that can keep businesses going, so I look forward to becoming President of the CII in 2022 and continuing the professional body’s amazing work to examine ways to close the gap between what consumers expect insurance services to entail and the reality.

“As a profession it is vital that we get to grips with the cause of the expectation gap and how to better educate consumers around coverage. Having cover in place is essential if our customers are to do and achieve more in the years to come.”

At the AGM, Swiss Re CEO of Reinsurance Asia, Russell Higginbotham, was appointed deputy president.

The PFS is the biggest UK professional body for Financial Planners and runs the Chartered Financial Planner designation.