Monthly Archives: October 2009

Risk managers and Chief Risk Officers are “genuinely different types of creatures”

October 18, 2009

I enjoyed this article about the ascent of the Chief Risk Officer, The chief risk officers are coming, published in July 2009 by Lloyds. Specifically, the differences between the risk manager and the CRO are interesting as described by Peter den Dekker, president of FERMA, the association of European risk managers. The CRO is member of the board and part of the corporate decision-making body. He or she will be taking part in decisions about mergers and acquisitions, contracts, investments. The risk manager is a facilitator … his or her job is to embed the company’s risk management policy and…

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Riskviews ask: What is Risk?

October 16, 2009

Originally posted by Riskview on October 12, 2009 I have started to get bothered by the way that the word RISK is used to mean almost anything – noun verb adjective. It makes it almost impossible to understand what someone is trying to say about a risk or risk management topic. I am probably even more guilty than most. I was once told by an editor that I used the word over 100 times in an article. One way that people misuse the word is in place of the word loss. For the most part, people are interested in minimizing…

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KPMG paper: The Business Case for a Risk Executive

October 14, 2009

Here is the latest white paper from KPMG called The Business Case for a Risk Executive: Leading Efforts to Avoid Surprises, Maneuver through Challenges, and Add Value. (See link below.) Big title. Fortunately, the paper is only 12 pages in length when you include the canned metaphorical Getty images of the guy looking through binoculars and “business people” talking seriously in the hall. But I digress. The paper summarizes what many risk practitioners already knew: before the recent economic crisis, what people thought was risk management was nothing but compliance, risk identification or audit and not the strategic tool enterprise…

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What an S&P rating looks like when ERM is mentioned

October 14, 2009

Here is an example of a press release by S&P for Endurance American Insurance Co. where they note that the organization’s management and enterprise risk management capabilities were assessed as part of their rating: Credit analyst Taoufik Gharib added: “The ratings on Endurance reflect our opinion that the group has established a strong track record since it started its operation in 2001. We view the company’s management team and corporate strategy as positive to the rating.” Endurance has a strong and seasoned management team with a strategy focused on consistent underwriting profits through market cycles. The ratings are also based…

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Risk oversight and transparency

October 2, 2009

Here is a pretty good article by Dale E. Jones, vice chairman and partner with Heidrick & Struggles, published at boardmember.com in which he writes about a report by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Jones notes that the report “identified four critical areas that will warrant greater attention by directors in the coming days; two of these were risk oversight and transparency. I believe the placement of risk oversight and transparency as the first and second critical areas is intentional and appropriate.” Some other highlights: Most companies adequately address known risks, but it is the unknown risks that cause…

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