New SIRM president plans to grow membership and boost lobbying efforts

In interview with Commercial Risk Europe Ms Hartusch, Insurance and Risk Manager at Swiss underwear firm Triumph, also called on the insurance industry to take a more holistic approach to risk transfer rather than operate on an unhelpful line-by-line basis. The SIRM president said there is big potential for membership growth at her association. "We stand at 75 members right now, but there is room for more," she said. She is targeting companies that have neglected their insurance and risk management departments and could therefore benefit from SIRM's knowledge and activities.hideBut SIRM is also looking to recruit from international firms that have relocated their main office to Switzerland. US companies in particular have transferred their headquarters to Switzerland and should logically steer their insurance and risk management departments to our country, said Ms Hartusch. This makes them prime candidates for SIRM, she said. Another priority during her presidency is to intensify dialogue between SIRM members. "We already meet regularly but we can increase the frequency," she said. A key topic on the agenda is SIRM members' wish for insurers to look at their organisations' risks in entirety, rather than on a traditional line-by-line basis, said Ms Hartusch. This is a problem that she has encountered in her role at Triumph. She said that insurers' tendency to restrict their view to individual risks and business lines sometimes verges on the absurd. "It may happen that one employee (at an insurance company) has been responsible for liability for 25 years and another colleague for property. Both share the same desk and insure the same client without ever taking an overall view," she said. This is also true for employee insurance and benefits, she added. Despite this gripe Ms Hartusch is generally happy with the insurance solutions available to Triumph. "By and large, we are satisfied," she said. "Not all of our exposures are insurable, but you simply have to acknowledge that insurers cannot provide cover for every special risk." Although sympathetic to calls from risk managers for more innovation from insurers, Ms Hartusch takes a pragmatic approach and said that in some cases risk managers simply cannot deliver the necessary information to enable risk transfer. “ "Many cases are too difficult to communicate or a risk is too difficult to describe in order to be translated into an insurance solution," she explained. Triumph is a global player with operations in nearly 50 countries. Ms Hartusch has visited the majority of these locations and believes this is crucial to success in her role. "It's important for me to know my CFOs out there and to have seen our locations with my own eyes," she said. "The CFOs are my voices in the countries and conversely they keep me informed." As a garment manufacturer, Triumph has to deal with many specific risks. "One peculiarity of the garment industry is deferred production," said Ms Hartusch. While other industries start production only when clients order a product, Triumph is now producing goods it plans to sell in two years' time. "That means that we have to observe the market very closely," she explained. "And this peculiarity has consequences for our supply chain risk too." Although insurers have become more reluctant to sell cover for supply chain risk following heavy losses in 2011, Triumph's cover is adequate, said Ms Hartusch. "This is also the case because we know our risks well and have our supply chain pretty well under control," she said.

New SIRM president plans to grow membership and boost lobbying efforts

Want to read this article?

Read Next

UK data protection regulator says ‘no excuse’ for breaches

France tables drought insurance reforms for 2025

WTW teams with local insurer to roll out war cover for on-land cargo in Ukraine

Index finds European organisations failing on diversity equity and inclusion

Costs triple to outpace premiums for Europe’s insurers in 2023

UK data protection regulator says ‘no excuse’ for breaches

France tables drought insurance reforms for 2025

WTW teams with local insurer to roll out war cover for on-land cargo in Ukraine

Index finds European organisations failing on diversity equity and inclusion

Costs triple to outpace premiums for Europe’s insurers in 2023

Want to read this article?

Read Next

UK data protection regulator says ‘no excuse’ for breaches

France tables drought insurance reforms for 2025

WTW teams with local insurer to roll out war cover for on-land cargo in Ukraine

Index finds European organisations failing on diversity equity and inclusion

Costs triple to outpace premiums for Europe’s insurers in 2023

Related Articles