The Chartered Insurance Institute wants to be the first organisation regulators talk to when it comes to "thinking about consulting on something", the new chief executive has said.
Matthew Hill told FT Adviser that one of the things at the "top of his list" to bring to the Institute is an emphasis on developing thought leadership.
He said he would be investing in ways to bring the CII and Personal Finance Society to the forefront of decision making.
Hill said: "It may have been difficult - for understandable reasons - to invest in thought leadership strategies in recent years.
"Now our financial position is considerably more healthy than it has been in recent times, and now the less productive discussions with the PFS are in the rear-view mirror, it's become much more possible to free up bandwidth and resources to really build in the thought leadership that we need."
According to Hill, memberships of professional bodies need to see the CII round the table, not just when the FCA consults on something but when the FCA is even "thinking about consulting on something".
Hill said: "We want to get to the stage where the first person, the first organisation that you as a regulator would want to go to and have a conversation with is the CII, because you know that you'll get impartial, objective analysis and evidence about the insurance and financial planning professions.
"We're not there yet but I see no reason why an organisation of this pedigree, this history, is not capable of achieving, especially with the quality of our membership."
From glory to delivery
The chief executive, who took the helm in April this year, said he fully supports the five-year plan outlined by the CII, and does not want to change those clear plans, but says his job is to make sure the focus is on delivering those.
He says: "As a strategic policy-making professional, I felt we've got a beautifully clear purpose set out in our Charter.
"My colleagues and predecessors have done an amazing job at converting that mission into a sensible and compelling strategy.
"However, where we have yet to realise our full potential is the translation of that strategy in all its glory into delivery. There are some things in particular in the strategy where we where we need to raise our game."
Earlier this year, he told FT Adviser his past experience as a regulator in dealing with professional bodies of all different shapes and sizes had shown him what worked and what did not.
He said: "The most effective ones were not the ones who came to the table, banged it and said 'Here are 10 reasons why you are wrong'.
"The best ones were those who came to the table with ways to work together for sensible, practical, constructive conversations, where they brought that understanding of policy objectives in a way that could be translated into positive outcomes."
