The whole ‘Chartered Body Alliance’ thing seems to have come out of nowhere to me. Clearly it has been brewing for a while and I think that it is a good thing for financial services.

I must admit that my initial reaction was surprise. As a member of both CII and CISI I thought it strange that there wasn’t any hint – a very well kept secret. And definitely not a merger! It’s a very functional name even if it does lead my over active imagination in the Star Wars direction…

Having had time to reflect, I think that it’s a really good thing for the three bodies to get together to promote Chartered status to the public. Chartered is the expectation for many professions such as accountants, surveyors and architects. I was surprised at how many different titles there are that bear the Chartered name when you carry out a web search.

As a protected title it carries an implication of professionalism and ethical behaviour. So educating the public that Chartered professionals do exist in financial services can only be a good thing. I hope it will encourage more people to attain this status.people