Ferma goes back to the future with education focus at seminar

The biennial Ferma seminar went back to its educational roots, helping risk managers prepare for the twin business challenges of cyber and growing focus on corporate responsibility and sustainability. Attendees at this year’s Ferma European Risk Management Seminar will have noticed a big change in how the event was structured, according to the federation’s chief executive officer Typhaine Beaupérin. Gone were the keynote speeches on wide-ranging topics. Instead, the seminar offered a more focused and educational experience to European risk managers, she told CRE. “Following feedback from members, we have revisited the concept of the seminar. The event had become a shorter version of the Ferma Forum, but that was not our objective. This year’s seminar will be an educational, technical and more interactive event,” Ms Beaupérin said. It used workshops, case studies and roundtables, as well as presentations and networking, to explore cyber and corporate responsibility and sustainability. “The seminar will feel quite different. We have worked on the concept and format, with more time given to discussion and the exchange of ideas," said Ms Beaupérin. A key focus for the seminar, and an area where risk managers are being particularly challenged, is cyber. Cyber is the number one concern for risk managers, according to the preliminary findings of Ferma’s biennial risk manager survey. The ever-present threat of cyberattacks and increasing regulation – such as the General Data Protection Regulation – have raised awareness of the impact of cyber on business, according to Ms Beaupérin. “Now the conversation around cyber is more granular, it has moved on and is now concrete. Risk managers are preparing to take a more active role,” she said. However, cyber is outside the “comfort zone” of many risk managers, who are increasingly be asked to help quantify the business impact of cyber incidents and investigate potential risk mitigation and transfer options, explained Ms Beaupérin. This is an area where risk managers are looking for guidance and to learn from their peers, she said. When it comes to cyber, the Ferma Seminar addressed the issues most pressing for risk managers today, such as quantification and purchasing insurance. Ferma’s 2016 risk manager survey found that 37% of respondents purchased cyber insurance, a number that is likely to have increased, the federation’s CEO suggested. Companies are also likely to be more targeted in their insurance purchasing than two years ago, she said. Ferma published its latest cyber guidance at a workshop in Antwerp. Following last year’s groundbreaking paper on cyber risk governance, the federation has prepared guidance on buying cyber insurance. In partnership with Insurance Europe, BIPAR, Aon and Marsh, the report will help risk managers understand the information required by insurers, why they request it and what they use it for. Ferma also reissued an updated version of its cyber governance report to include a case study, as well as provide provisional findings of the OECD/Ferma joint survey on digital security risk management. The event also saw presentations from risk managers at Danish shipping company Maersk and Spanish telecoms group Telefónica, which both fell victim to global malware attacks in 2017. The NotPetya malware attack caused massive disruption to Maersk’s ports and logistics business, while Telefónica was infected by WannaCry ransomware. The other strand to the seminar was CSR. According to Ms Beaupérin, this is an area of increasing relevance to business and with implications for risk management. Companies will increasingly need to consider their wider impact on stakeholders, not just shareholders. This could include suppliers, customers and society in general, according to Ms Beaupérin. “Risk managers see a trend of regulators asking more and more companies to report on their corporate responsibility and sustainability. New legislation in France, for example, requires companies to carry our risk mapping at a macro level and integrate CSR into risk management. In the UK, the Modern Slavery Act also encourages organisations to adopt a more sustainable business model,” she said. The increased focus on CSR should mean an expanded role for risk managers, said Ms Beaupérin. “It will create new educational needs and an opportunity to raise the profile of the risk management function, as well as demonstrating enterprise risk management techniques and supporting other departments, such as HR and legal. We already see that some risk managers have ethics within their portfolio,” she said. The seminar in Antwerp explored the link between risk management and CSR, and discussed where risk managers can act and have a role. Seminar workshops looked at different aspects of sustainability, including environmental liability and how risk managers can help organisations adapt to climate change, using data analytics and risk transfer solutions such as weather derivatives. There was also session on how risk managers can take a role in increased CSR reporting and the need to map risks at a micro level going forward. During the course of the next year, Ferma will continue with its thought leadership and educational work. Its lobbying activities may temporarily take a backseat due to upcoming European Parliament elections in May and the appointment of a new EC president. While there will be little in the way of new legislation, Ferma will work to raise the profile of risk management and risk topics with the new Commission, said Ms Beaupérin. The federation will also follow through its current lobbying, including work on captives and natural catastrophes. It recently published a response to the OECD public discussion draft document on base erosion and profit shifting (see story on page 10), and submitted a position paper in its response to the online public consultation on the evaluation of the EU’s Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. On cyber, Ferma is turning its attention to the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the risk landscape and insurability. The federation will also continue to build on its risk management certification project, rimap, according to Ms Beaupérin. “Rimap is now fully operational. The examination is now online and the CPD system is up and running with courses in Spain, Italy, Finland and, soon, in Germany, as well as an agreement with the French association. This is a collective venture that enables our member associations to develop education that meets the needs of their local risk management communities,” she said.

Ferma goes back to the future with education focus at seminar

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