Establishing the realities

What are the frustrations of the risk manager’s role? And, sitting alongside that is the question of how good and relevant are the services provided by insurers, brokers and other professional advisers.

Last month, StrategicRISK launched a European survey to examine several areas of key concern for risk managers. In the UK, we are conducting the confidential study in co-operation with AIRMIC. We have invited other national risk management associations to partner StrategicRISK in their own countries.

The research focuses, in particular, on the practicalities and frictions of the risk manager’s role, the usefulness and shortcomings of membership bodies, and the quality and relevance of the service provided by suppliers.

Importantly, the survey also seeks risk managers’ views on how improvements can be made.

Questions include what are participants’ single biggest source of

“Importantly, the survey also seeks risk managers’ views on how improvements can be made.

frustration, how much time on average they spend on risk financing (including insurance) as opposed to other risk management activities, whether this amount of time is changing, and whether risk management (as opposed to risk financing) is a board level issue in their companies.

Managing risk has become very high profile. As a result, a number of

individuals and different departments (internal audit, procurement, etc) may be seeking to muscle in. Another aspect that our survey looks at is whether risk managers are being squeezed out of the decision-making process. If so, what should they be doing about it?

We want the survey to give an in-depth view of risk managers’ issues in the largest European companies. So we have been selective in those that we’re approaching – most will be risk managers of either large stock exchange listed companies or smaller companies with a highly prestigious brand.

We believe that this will be ground-breaking research and an opportunity to help position risk managers as key providers not just of risk transfer opportunities but of the knowledge that their companies need to deal with the huge and varied risks that they face.