Risk managers taking on strategic role but more to do

Experts that discussed the survey's findings yesterday welcomed this news. But they said more can still be done to align risk management with strategy and urged risk managers to step up to the plate. Ferma's 8th European Risk and Insurance Survey found that 68% of the 634 respondents are involved in implementing risk culture across the organisation. 62% are developing risk management as a part of business strategy and 59% developing business continuity and other crisis response (59%) programmes. Two thirds of risk managers surveyed report to the board or top management. Ferma's president Jo Willaert said: "From this survey, we see that risk managers are moving into a position where they are helping embed risk management into the business model and culture of their organisations. They are taking an enterprise wide vision of risks, including the wider business environment, and the majority report to a chief officer or the board."hideHosting a session yesterday, Ferma board member Julia Graham said it is "extremely positive that risk managers expect to take more strategic responsibility". Ms Graham, who is also deputy CEO and technical director at Airmic, urged risk managers to grab this opportunity. "The message is now or never. We have to seize the opportunity," she said. Joining Ms Graham on stage to discuss the findings, Francis Miard, partner, risk EMEA at EY, said the survey findings are good news, but more progress is needed. "Year after year we clearly see that the risk and insurance managers play more and more roles in strategic decisions...So these are good results but for me it is not enough, we have to do more," he said. Given the increasing speed of change in the business world and related threats, risk managers can do more to help top management, he continued. "This is something risk managers have to do now," said Mr Miard. "One key element is to be really embedded in all strategic and business planning processes. To be truly embedded...We have to think about how risk managers can be part of the big transformation programmes. Being involved at the beginning of these changes is something we have to think about," he added. According to the report that accompanies the survey, the relationship between risk managers and some other key functions, such as finance, has strengthened since Ferma last carried out the poll two years ago. However, the survey finds that links with IT could be improved. Giampaolo Scarso, head of client engagement, Benelux at AIG, said it is unsurprising that the relationship between risk management and IT is less strong because cyber is a new and emerging risk. He believes the ties will grow. "I think in the coming years there will be a growing interaction with the IT function, especially with the chief information officer and chief information security officer. In most large companies there is an ERM framework, this means for sure we have to make risk scenarios, analysis and evaluation of cyber risks. I think the best way to do it is to arrange roundtables with all different functions of one company and to create a change of culture and mindset," said Mr Scarso. He believes the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will encourage and boost this interaction. Ms Graham urged risk managers to start preparing for the GDPR now. "I think whatever country you come from and whatever might be on your immediate horizon you've really got to be taking action on that issue now, not in 12 months time," she advised.

Risk managers taking on strategic role but more to do

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