GVNW reports solid progress on members and education

The GVNW continues to attract new members among the larger corporate risk and insurance management community and reports rising fee income for the first time in a while. Its busy series of educational seminars are also proving to be as popular as ever. Along with its important effort to create a new platform for the industrial insurance market and a project on ESG with the Funk Foundation, the association is keeping itself busy. The membership picture is mixed, with larger companies showing more interest than smaller firms, which do not tend to have a dedicated insurance management function. “We are seeing a decrease among very small member companies that lack internal insurance expertise and have relied on us primarily for consultation and second opinions. At the same time, we could win some big corporates as new members,” GVNW managing director Stefan Rosenowski told Commercial Risk. “Consequently, in terms of membership fee income in euros, this year marks the first time in a long while that we have achieved growth,” he added. As with its peers across Europe – such as Amrae in France, Anra in Italy and Airmic in the UK – the German association has gained in profile over recent times as risk and insurance management has risen up the corporate agenda. “We believe that our association has significantly heightened its visibility through our activities. We are pleased with this recognition and consider it a testament to the dedication of all our colleagues, both in the office and on the board,” said Rosenowski. GVNW has a strong body of staff that is largely focused on the association’s popular seminars and courses. “Our series of seminars remains highly popular and successful. We customise our courses to meet the specific needs of our member companies. This includes a comprehensive introductory seminar on corporate insurance, designed primarily for career changers,” explained Rosenowski. “Additionally, we provide specialised, in-depth introductory sessions on liability insurance, property insurance, electronics insurance, financial lines, cyber insurance, and advanced seminars in these domains,” he added. Much of the training and education offered by professional bodies has shifted online. This process was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. GVNW has experienced the same trend. “With the exception of the comprehensive introductory seminar on corporate insurance, all our offerings are conducted exclusively online at the request of our members. This approach has proven effective, and we are pleased to receive participants from insurers and insurance brokers alike,” said Rosenowski. Other than the ever-expanding and highly successful annual Symposium in Munich, GVNW has recently held three other main events in Cologne – cyber and financial lines, employee benefits and one for the medium-sized and SME market (Mittelstand). The cyber and financial lines conference was successfully broken up into two events this year. “We offered for the first time the financial lines and cyber conference to be booked also as independent events, and had very good experiences with it. Highlights of the cyber event included negotiation tactics for ransomware, and the D&O event brought clarity on the rise of risks that are not seen yet in claims or numbers,” said Rosenowski. The employee benefits event was more challenging as the association struggled to engage colleagues from the human resources side, a common challenge for risk managers as well as other event organisers. For this reason, the event is under review for 2025. “The subject matter is fundamentally significant; however, it typically falls under the purview of human resources departments. Regrettably, we have encountered challenges in engaging colleagues from these departments to participate in our conference. As a result, we may revise our approach moving forward and will address this issue during one of our upcoming board meetings to explore alternative strategies,” said Rosenowski. The Mittelstand conference has been cancelled next year due to lack of sufficient delegate numbers to make it viable. This is a pity because GVNW, as with its peers in France and Italy, has made serious effort to spread the gospel of structured insurance management to smaller firms that do not have dedicated risk and insurance managers. But marketing this service to such a wide and diverse audience, which is generally facing budget challenges, isn’t easy. “This year, we organised our conference for the second time at the request of our medium-sized companies. From a content perspective, it was a superb event; however, regrettably, participation was insufficient, particularly among our medium-sized member companies. While the exact reasons remain speculative, we have already decided not to continue with this format,” said Rosenowski.

GVNW reports solid progress on members and education

Mixed success on events that reach out beyond traditional membership

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