Delegates return in-person for Swerma Risk Forum

More than 200 risk and insurance management professionals gathered in Stockholm on 8 September for the annual Risk Forum of the Swedish risk management association (Swerma).

As the first in-person event since the Risk Forum of April 2019, there was a lot to discuss, not least the impact of the hardening insurance market at a time of unprecedented volatility, both geopolitical and economic.

The title of the event was ‘Living the new normal’ and this theme featured in almost all of the presentations and panel debates – from the social media landscape and how we communicate, to the effect of weather and climate on our way of living.

“Basically what was normal before the pandemic, war in Ukraine and social media misinformation is no longer the same and we have to adapt,” said Karl-Johan Rodert, president of Swerma and insurance and captive manager for Autoliv.

One of the best-received sessions was from Andreas von der Heide, founder and CEO of geopolitical advisory firm Consilio, on the changing geopolitical world order.

“A changed risk landscape means new ways of working and continuous risk management, and assessment has never been as important and useful as it is now,” said Rodert.

Aside from the presentations, there was also a clear sense among the gathered risk managers that they are looking beyond traditional insurance and plan to retain more risk themselves, especially via the use of captives. “The hardening market has heightened this trend and we certainly see an increase in the use of captives and other means of transferring risk,” said Rodert.

The Risk Forum also demonstrated how such events can bring risk managers, insurers and brokers together in the hope of finding new solutions to a rapidly changing risk landscape.

“Naturally, talking to each other and exchanging ideas is a way to build and find new solutions,” said Rodert. “I think we who work in this industry and with risk management in Sweden have had this attitude before as well, but when complexity increases, this becomes even more important.”

Consequently, Rodert hopes that Swerma will continue to provide support to its members between now and the next Risk Forum.

“We will, as before, try to bring our members meaningful events, seminars and talks,” said Rodert. “We have some very interesting events coming soon with our gold partners and we are already planning for the next Risk Forum on 27 April 2023. If any member has any ideas for new events or actions, we are very interested in evolving Swerma.”