Airmic 2013: Q&A Chris McGloin, new Airmic chair

As the new Airmic chairman, what are your aims and objectives?
In the last few years, Airmic has set a path that has been particularly successful. That path has involved engaging very positively with our members, working with our different stakeholders and being prepared to challenge what people are doing in a positive way. My first objective is to carry on doing that – carry on engaging positively with our members and working with our stakeholders.

You mention challenging risk and insurance professionals in a positive way, what are the challenges facing the profession?One of the challenges is to get the general market place to see product innovation through the eyes of the customer. There’s a lot of innovation in the market place but innovation can sometimes be focused on things that don’t necessarily add value to the customer. The other area that is particularly important to challenge is the way the insurance industry delivers its products and the efficacy of those products. There’s a lot that has been written and a lot of discussion in recent times around that – does the insurance product do what the customer wants?

What about emerging risks, what should risk managers focus on in the coming year?
Generally, supply chain and cyber risk are two significant areas. There’s a lot more work to be done in the management and mapping of supply chains. The development of insurance products that people are prepared to buy also needs to be addressed, though some insurers have done a really good job there.

You only have to read the paper to see how big a concern cyber threats are. This isn’t just about data and information, this is about disruption to infrastructure and production processes. Cyber risk will continue to be an issue, particularly from a business interruption and potential liability perspective.

And how will Airmic be responding to these risks?
Among our steering groups, cyber and supply chain are firmly at the top of the agenda. Paul Hopkin in his role as technical director is helping these steering groups drive action.