Being a professional is not just about a qualification, as the Cambridge definition indicates. Achieving the relevant qualification to execute the tasks of your designation is essential, with CPD being the regulated requirement, but these are only two of the components towards being an insurance professional.

In my opinion, becoming a member of the IISA provides the best platform from where to build the full complement of attributes needed to be regarded as an insurance professional.

Insurance professionals – As per the IISA website: The IISA is the South African Qualifications Authority approved professional body that awards professional designations to qualifying individuals within the insurance Industry. Being an affiliated professional member of the IISA positions one in good standing and indicates that the member has undergone extensive insurance training and has acquired the necessary experience at the various levels.

Besides the above, the IISA is also the custodian of professionalism in the insurance industry and, as such vets all CPD recognised training interventions available to insurance practitioners.

The journey to becoming a recognised insurance professional – The first step could be registering as a Student Member of the IISA and studying towards an insurance qualification, thereafter, becoming a General Member once you have satisfied the minimum requirements, such as a Certificate of Proficiency, INSETA Level 4 qualification etc.

The goal, however, should be to become a Professional Member, which starts with Licentiateship, then moves to Associateship, and finally Fellowship, the top designation. The requirements for each of these can be found on the IISA website, with academic prowess and proven professional execution of insurance duties being at the core.

An ever-evolving industry – Attaining one of the professional IISA designations is not the end of the road. Being able to execute one’s responsibilities professionally requires updating and refreshing of your skills continuously. This is where CPD (Continuous Professional Development) comes in, and where the IISA plays another key role.

The purpose of CPD is not just to retain your professional designation or a license to operate. Each CPD intervention also provides the opportunity to potentially learn something new, to identify new and/or more effective ways of executing certain tasks and overall, to become more valuable to your clients. The point of departure should therefore always be to seek out CPD opportunities that will add most value to your skills, your practice and your clients, while not seeing the number of CPD hours as a goal but rather as a guideline to the minimum required.

The IISA designs its CPD initiatives through a series of discussions with insurance professionals, technical experts, other professional bodies such as IRMSA (Institute of Risk Managers South Africa) and academic institutions. The IISA also has access to a diverse range of technical experts that can design and facilitate training programmes, host webinars and write technical thought leadership pieces that cover the latest development in the insurance industry. The IISA itself even aligns itself with other professional bodies like the CII (Chartered Insurance Insitute) in London, as part of its own benchmarking of professional standards.

A bigger cause – For the insurance industry in South Africa and our broader African continent to thrive, we need professionals, not just by minimum qualifications, but by professional behaviour. We need insurance professionals that align themselves with other professionals, that hold themselves accountable to a professional body and that work towards the creation of a thriving insurance industry that truly cares for its clients.