Risk managers play key role in companies’ development
The provision of professional development opportunities and making sure that the risk manager’s role continues to be important and relevant within organisations are two key aims of this year’s AIRMIC conference, which starts this afternoon (Monday June 16), according to AIRMIC chairman Chris McGloin.
He anticipates that cyber-risk will be a hot topic, and with this in mind, the conference’s first keynote speaker, Simon Moores, is a cyber-risk expert.
“The last speaker, Michael Woodford, is going to be focusing on governance, so we’ve sandwiched the conference between two really important subjects – cyber-risk and governance issues,” he said.
He adds that the global economy remains top of mind for many.
“With threats to global economy people have been a little bit on the back foot in some respects in terms of protecting positions,” he said. “As the economies start to come out of recession and look more expansively I think there will be a lot more forward looking business investment.”
He said that any company that wants to establish a strong position for the future has the opportunity to use risk management to help grow the business, not just to help people protect from adverse issues.
“I think the positive side of risk becomes very important and that is something people are going to be looking to try and develop and focus upon,” he said.
McGloin believes the insurance industry is in a very strong position at the moment, and has been particularly successful in seeing its way through the recession, and multinational insurers can play a big part in helping big international companies grow and evolve.
“However, they need to do two things better – they need to be able to manage data and risk information better to help customers and they need to be less risk averse when it comes to responding to these new and emerging risks. Cyber risk is a case in point; supply chain risk is another.”
He said that AIRMIC’s lobbying agenda will continue to focus on improving the legislative environment for buyers and, along with the insurance and broking community, looking to improve the core insurance product and the efficacy of insurance products. It will also continue its lobbying within the industry to improve the way insurance works.
It will also focus on gathering a range of professionals around the table: “It might be lawyers, accountants, supply chain – we like to engage with all parties who have an interest in risk and risk management and help them and look for them to help us move the debates forwards,” he said.
He adds that AIRMIC is looking to involve more of its members at board level, having created six new board vacancies.
“We got a really strong response - we ended up with twice as many candidates as there were positions to fill,” he said. “That response demonstrates there are lots of members out there who want to get more engaged, and it’s reflected in the conference numbers, so we think things are set in the right direction.”
