Monthly Archives: January 2010

ERM of crucial importance to financial service providers

January 28, 2010

The Faculty & Institute of Actuaries his published a paper called ERM for Insurance Companies – Adding the Investor’s Point of View, on January 22, 2010. The abstract reads: A major outcome of ERM activities in insurance companies has been the bringing together of all of the key risks in the company, to be managed together in a holistic fashion. The authors of this paper believe that an ERM framework also needs to look beyond the company, and have regard to the risk management needs of investors, from the point of view of the contribution of the insurance company to…

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My rant about Toronto pedestrians getting killed

January 27, 2010

The big story in Toronto this week is the number of pedestrians getting killed by vehicles. An “epidemic”, one no-talent Canadian news anchor who colours his hair said tonight. About 14 people have been killed so far this month (which apparently is more than is allowed). The public and police are shocked by these events. How could this happen? Why is this happening? The Mayor is suggesting using “technology” (like more of those countdown cross walk lights) and a city councilor is suggesting lowering the speed limit to 10km/hr in the city to fix this. Why not call in the…

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Where are all the risk management jobs?

January 19, 2010

I’ve been writing this blog almost every day since August and I’ve been rewarded by your positive feedback and over 6000 hits. In this period, I’ve reported about many ERM-related events: the S&P calls ERM “highly important”; while others suggested ERM should be a “way of life”, called it “vital”, said it would be a great idea at some banks, and declared it is the “forth most influential management idea of the last decade”. It seems like lately everyone is talking about black swans. Additionally, Aon, actuaries and other authors published documents, surveys and books, the Government of Canada has…

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ERM ranks forth on list of management ideas for ’00s

January 18, 2010

The editors of Harvard Business Review recently published their own top ten list of the last decade calling it “the most influential management ideas of the millennium (so far)” and look what came in at #4. 4. Enterprise Risk Management. Sounds crazy right now to say that the last decade was notable for risk management. But especially after 9/11, companies saw the sense of bringing the many and various pockets of it under the same umbrella. Newly empowered chief risk officers looked for trouble spots on a landscape ranging from financial hedging to pirates on the open sea. I was…

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Aon Global ERM Survey 2010 now available

January 14, 2010

There is a link on the Aon.com homepage for their latest ERM survey conducted in 2009 Q3. Aon writes: The study was designed to show the extent to which ERM has been successfully implemented across organizations globally; the effect ERM has had on harmonizing organizational needs, culture and stakeholder requirements; and how ERM is being used proactively to balance risk, opportunity and value. In addition to survey results, several case studies are also provided including Eli Lilly and Pirelli Group. I am just having my first look at the document right now and hopefully will post some additional comments in…

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Risk management certification: let’s discuss

January 13, 2010

Tim Leech’s IIA blog discusses some of the many risk management designations and certification available and whether or not one of these may be the cost of entry in the future. I would like to know if anyone out there is interested in replying to this post with thoughts, pros, cons, benefits, etc., for the many designations out there. For example years ago, I entertained the FRM certification from GARP but found the study material a bit too quantitative for the risk management I was interested in. (If memory serves me right, I think there was a calculus test!) I’ve…

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For Toronto readers only

January 12, 2010

Hello. I am just curious about local traffic to this blog. If you are reading this and from the Southern Ontario/Greater Toronto Area, please drop me a note, or connect with me on LinkedIn. My contact details are in the About tab at the top the homepage.

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The pledge of a good risk manager

January 12, 2010

I’ve given some thought to what makes a good risk manager. When I started writing this, it occurred to me that I had seen a lot of those characteristics before. In 2004, the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada, began The Ivey Ring Tradition. And since 2004, every Ivey grad takes the Ivey Pledge and receives a number ring. I wear my #2128 every day because it reminds me of what I believe in and stand for. I bring these beliefs to my engagements and jobs. Do you want to know…

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van Deventer: Risk Management Lessons from Lance Armstrong

January 12, 2010

I would like bring to your attention the blog by Donald van Deventer from the Kamakura Corporation.  We may both write about risk management but on a risk management scale, Don is to Thomas Jefferson what I am Bart Simpson. Don is the real deal. He writes about his experiences in risk management with quotes by Lance Armstrong woven through the post. It’s very good so please have a look. http://kamakuraco.com/Company/ExecutiveProfiles/DonaldRvanDeventerPhD/KamakuraBlog/tabid/231/EntryId/169/Risk-Management-Lessons-from-Lance-Armstrong.aspx

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Ayds helps you lose weight

January 11, 2010

I was reminded recently of these appetite suppressant pills that my mom must have purchased when I was a kid in the late 70s. They were called AYDS. Worried about your reputation and your brand? What could be worse that your brand being associated with a terrible disease? (Well, I recall there being a sushi place called Osama Sushi in Toronto about 10 years ago which is no longer there/or they changed their name.) Read more at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds Time Magazine wrote in1993: The problem: a deadly disease breaks out that has a name that sounds the same as that…

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