Future of risk and insurance profession in good hands

Confidence is rising among Airmic’s fastTrack membership of young risk and insurance managers, or those new to the profession, as the calibre of people joining its ranks rises, according to the group’s chair Joe Tunstall. He also told Commercial Risk Europe that the profile of risk managers is on the up and the job is increasingly appealing to graduates. Mr Tunstall, who in his day job is risk analysis manager at Coca-Cola European Partners, believes risk education must adapt to prepare his profession for the increasingly digital world and plug potential skill shortages. FastTrack was launched by current Airmic board member Kate Wallyn back in 2014. The scheme aims to provide the risk and insurance managers of tomorrow with the skills needed to take the profession forward. Since its inception, the group has made huge progress, said Mr Tunstall. “FastTrack was previously very much a separate entity but has now been rolled into Airmic’s Leadership and Development Committee, which is great as it has become self-sustaining. FastTrack is streets ahead from where Kate Wallyn initially had the idea to where it is now and this is testament to her vision and the work of everyone involved,” he said. One area of progress appears the quality and confidence of people joining the group. “What I noticed about this year’s forum and from amongst fastTrack members more generally is there is a lot more engagement. Young risk and insurance managers are coming to us, raising problems or areas of interest that we can then react to. Confidence is definitely rising amongst fastTrack members and I think that is probably because the calibre of our members is improving,” said Mr Tunstall. The impressive up-and-coming risk manager is also upbeat about the growing attraction of risk management as a career and real alternative for graduates thinking of becoming an underwriter or broker. “The profile of working in-house is growing as risk moves further up the business agenda, and I think people now see risk management as an opportunity to see and experience all facets of a business from the frontline to the boardroom. I have seen a couple of examples where people have come straight out of their graduate scheme at a broker or an insurer and managed to pick up an in-house role, either as a number two or three in large risk and/or insurance functions. So, things are increasingly positive,” said Mr Tunstall. Adding: “I have seen several examples where risk teams have expanded as businesses see the benefits. This is providing a great opportunity for fastTrack members. I think it is an exciting time to be a starting a career in risk management.” FastTrack’s chair is one of a growing group encouraging the risk profession to embrace the technological world and address the risks it throws up. But this is no easy task and requires new skills to fill a current shortage, he said, adding that risk management education must adapt. “There is a skills shortage among general risk and insurance managers, but also in terms of developing skills to manage risk in an increasingly digital workplace. Risk managers must be able to understand the impacts of enhanced digitalisation, greater access to data and advanced analytics. Risk managers will increasingly need to understand these issues and, more importantly, opportunities. This is where the future of risk and insurance management is likely to be. This will be the direction of travel but I think it will take time for risk managers to respond fully,” said Mr Tunstall. Adding: “Many of the current risk and insurance qualifications are based on what was happening five years ago. We need these courses to be based on what will be happening into ten to 15 years’ time. There is good material available but in small pockets and risk managers need to delve deeper, broaden their horizons and get away from traditional risk and insurance management education.”

Future of risk and insurance profession in good hands

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