Micale wins European Risk Manager of the Year

Maurizio Micale, group vice-president of corporate insurance risk management at STMicroelectronics in Italy, has won Risk Manager of the Year at the European Risk Management Awards held by Ferma and Commercial Risk Europe.

He scooped the prestigious prize, sponsored by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), at an awards ceremony in London last night.

The risk management community and its service providers gathered in person at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane hotel for the sixth European Risk Management Awards, after the event was held virtually for the past two years because of Covid-19.

Micale held off competition from Laurent Boussu, director of risk management, insurance and internal control at Group Servier in France, and Dihya Haddak, vice-president of risks at French firm ACCOR.

The Italian’s work across 22 years at STMicroelectronics has ensured that the importance of risk management is embedded throughout the company. He has successfully created a pioneering corporate insurance risk management programme, including a reinsurance captive management team, with stellar work on corporate security and enterprise risk management. Micale has ensured that risk management is fully integrated into product quality management and embedded in the company’s ESG standards and principles, meaning he more than deserved the prize.

There were 12 winners at this year’s European Risk Management Awards, held with headline partner AGCS as well as AXA XL, Belfor and Zurich also partnering the event. This included five awards in the Excellence in Risk Management category.

Business Continuity Programme of the Year, sponsored by Belfor, was won by Mykhailo Rushkovskyi, head of risk management at DTEK in the Ukraine, who had to plan for decisive, emergency action as a result of Russia’s invasion of his country.

Rushkovskyi undertook war risk assessments using a variety of intelligence and information from social media, traditional media and internal data to develop a map of his organisation’s vulnerabilities and potential risk scenarios.

He was able to run quantitative analytics to better understand how DTEK, the largest private investor in Ukraine’s energy industry, would fare should a war break out, and what it could do in response.

Gitte Kristiansen, global head of pensions and insurance at ISS World Services in Denmark, won Innovative Insurance Programme of the Year, sponsored by Zurich, for her work on managing people risk.

Through a highly innovative approach to data analysis and by breaking down silos, she has developed a collaborative programme that “opened the eyes” of the workplace and facility management firm to better understand the correlations between insurance costs, underlying claims drivers and how this relates to sick leave.

Rising Star of the Year was Aston-J Spreddie, head of operational risk at Vitality in the UK. He took the award, sponsored by AXA XL, after streamlining policy management across all of Vitality’s business and helping to deliver a clearer approach to conducting assurance reviews.

The Crossrail Elizabeth Line/TFL risk management team took home the Outstanding Contribution to Risk Management award, also sponsored by AGCS.

The Crossrail Elizabeth Line project on London’s transport network was Europe’s largest infrastructure project at the height of construction. From end to end, the Elizabeth line stretches more than 60 miles (100km), serving 41 stations.

The Crossrail Elizabeth Line team has set a new best-practice standard in risk management for complex underground works and willingly shared the knowledge for use on future major infrastructure projects.

The awards aim to further increase awareness of risk management throughout the European business community, by boosting its standing and promoting its value.

“They recognise exceptional individuals and teams in an exceptional profession,” said Ferma president Dirk Wegener. “They have now taken place every year for the last six years, including throughout the lockdowns and travel restrictions, which I think shows how valuable they are.”

“It gives me pleasure to congratulate all the shortlisted candidates and especially the winners,” he added at the awards ceremony.

Commercial Risk Europe’s editor-in-chief Adrian Ladbury said the awards “help identify those risk managers who are prepared to go the extra mile and improve the way that their company identifies, measures, manages and transfers risk”.

But the awards also reward excellence and innovation by core service providers, alongside excellence in training and education. Wegener also congratulated the “high flyers” that won in these categories.

“The awards show which providers are genuinely prepared to invest in those areas that really matter to their customers,” added Ladbury.

There were six winners in the Industry Excellence Awards, with Visicover Marine Leisure Product Development winning Broker Innovation of the Year.

Visicover was initially launched to cater for the UK general aviation market and in 2018 expanded to offer solutions in nine other European countries. It has developed a brand-new policy for owners of leisure marine vessels that meets the diverse requirements of this market and delivered a radically different approach to product and risk assessment design.

The Parsyl insurance team was awarded Insurance Company Innovation of the Year.

It is redefining insurance for the $4trn of perishable food and pharmaceuticals shipped annually by using granular supply chain data to identify and price risk, while helping customers lower their risk and reduce waste of essential goods.

Earlier this year, Parsyl’s insurance team led the launch of a US-based managing general underwriter, and expanded the scope of 1796, its impact-focused syndicate at Lloyd’s, to support global healthcare, perishable foods and pharmaceuticals by offering a full range of cargo and supply chain coverages.

Claims Innovation of the Year winner was Blink Parametric Lost Luggage. Blink has developed a unique parametric solution that enables consumers to purchase emergency items when they lose luggage.

The commercial benefits of the solution were immediately clear. Its launch partner Just Travel Cover reported sales of more than 10,000 ‘smart’ luggage policies by the first quarter of this year. Blink’s solution is Travel Cover’s most popular add-on product.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions’ (SRCS) International Programmes Virtual Captive scooped Global Programme Innovation of the Year.

The virtual tool is a streamlined option that retains the risk financing mechanics of a traditional captive. It is essentially a multi-year insurance agreement between the customer and SRCS.

The agreement replaces the need for a full-on captive structure and eliminates the regulatory complexities that come with that. SRCS handles the regulatory and administrative aspects of the insurance entity, and therefore emulates the captive approach effectively on its balance sheet. The virtual captive concept was first rolled out to SRCS’s international programme clients within the past year.

Marsh won Systemic Risk Solution of the Year for its ESG Risk Rating initiative.

The ESG Risk Rating service gives an assessment against international ESG reporting frameworks. The self-assessment is free and allows organisations to retake the assessment as and when they make changes to their business processes.

Technology Innovation of the Year winner was Zurich’s Connector API solution that helps customers leverage their insurance and risk management data efficiently while addressing growing regulation.

The innovation can connect risk management systems with Zurich’s global platforms. It reduces administrative burden and costs, offering easy collaboration between all parties.

The evening’s final winner was Zurich Commercial Insurance’s Customer and Broker Webinar Series, named Training & Education Programme of the Year. The webinars have been running since the pandemic and are designed to educate and inform risk managers about current topics and trends in the insurance industry. They continue to deliver valuable content that is available to risk managers across the globe.

A full list of the winners and finalists from this year’s awards is as follows:

Excellence in Risk Management

Risk Manager of the Year (sponsored by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty)

• Maurizio Micale, group vice-president of corporate insurance risk management, STMicroelectronics, Italy – WINNER
• Laurent Boussu (and his risk management team), director of risk management, insurance and internal control, Group Servier, France
• Dihya Haddak, VP of risks, ACCOR, France

Rising Star of the Year (sponsored by AXA XL)

• Aston-J Spreddie, head of operational risk, Vitality, UK – WINNER
• Antonia Müller, group head of prudential risk, Domestic & General Insurance, Germany
• Alec Sammon, global HR compliance and risk management lead, VMWare, Ireland

Innovative Insurance Programme of the Year (sponsored by Zurich)

• Gitte Kristiansen, global head of pensions and insurance at ISS World Services, (Danish Risk Management Vest Project), Denmark – WINNER
• Mykhailo Rushkovskyi, head of risk management at DTEK, Ukraine
• The Crossrail Elizabeth Line/TFL risk management team, UK

Business Continuity Programme of the Year (sponsored by Belfor)

• Mykhailo Rushkovskyi, head of risk management at DTEK, Ukraine – WINNER
• Bora Akdoganlar, group risk manager at Eczacibasi Holding Co, Turkey
• Tolga Argin, master lead risk and business continuity management professional at Turkcell, Turkey

Outstanding Contribution to Risk Management award (sponsored by AGCS)

The Crossrail Elizabeth Line/TFL Risk Management Team – WINNER

Industry Excellence

Broker Innovation of the Year

• Visicover Marine Leisure Product Development – WINNER
• Marsh Cyber Incident Management
• Strategica Group

Claims Innovation of the Year

• Blink Parametric Lost Luggage – WINNER
• Davies Automated Claims Software
• Van Ameyde Vehicle Fleet Claims Solution including the Buckle Up app

Global Programmes Innovation of the Year

• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions International Programmes Virtual Captive – WINNER
• Zurich Connector API solution (bi-directional data exchange)
• Marsh Global Program Workbook

Insurance Company Innovation of the Year

• Parsyl Insurance Team – WINNER
• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Crossrail Elizabeth Line Construction Project
• Zurich Swift/Maersk Cargo Insurance Initiative

Systemic Risk Solution of the Year

• Marsh ESG Risk Rating – WINNER
• Russell Group – The Russell ALPS Solution
• Zurich Workplace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Service

Technology Innovation of the Year

• Zurich Connector API solution (bi-directional data exchange) – WINNER
• AXA XL Environmental Sensitivities Tool
• Conducttr Worlds
• EuroTempest Flood Dashboard

Training & Education Programme of the Year 

• Zurich Commercial Insurance Customer and Broker Webinar Series – WINNER
• AGCS UK Apprentice and Interns Scheme, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
• AIG Navigating Multinational Risks Multinational Insurance Training
• Anticipation Risk Management, Skopia Anticipation Services

Ferma and Commercial Risk Europe would like to thank our esteemed group of judges and awards sponsors for helping us to deliver and host this important initiative once again.

But most of all, we would like to thank all of the nominees, finalists and winners for rising to the challenge and raising the bar for continued innovation and excellence within the risk and insurance management industry.