AXA releases its study of emerging risks
Global insurer AXA has released its 2014 Emerging Risks Acumen; anticipating the major new and growing risks. It shows that economic & financial risks, especially macro-economic disruptions and mismanagement of public debt & budget deficit, will have the highest impact on society in the coming 5 to 10 years. The report has been compiled using the knowledge of the company’s own experts with the aim of strengthening their understanding of emerging risks. As well as the economic concerns, political and social unrest dominates the top 10, with environmental issues such as natural hazards and pollution also highlighted. Cyber crime appears at number 10 on the global list of concerns, but ranks first in North America. Mismanagement of public debt is top in Europe and social unrest is the main concern in Asia. Read the full story.
Are cellphone companies trying to steal your business?
While the concept of an insurer partnering with a large retailer or media company may have obvious benefits, the policy could backfire. A story from Nigeria serves as a cautionary tale for us all. Insurers have teamed up with cellphone companies to sell insurance products; many think this is a golden marketing opportunity and short term it surely is. In fact one mobile operator alone has been adding 100,000 new policyholders a month. However, there are concerns in the industry that the phone companies will move to cut the insurers out of the deal and end up owning huge areas of micro-insurance themselves. There are questions about how that might be regulated, but the precedent has been set by other insurance sectors in Nigeria being lost from the insurance industry. The moral of this story? Choose your marketing partners carefully, they may have a bigger agenda. Read the full story.
Risk management should be central to any IT project
A senior training consultant says that when planning a new technology project risk management should be at its heart – not a ‘bolt-on’. Dennis Sheehan from the ILX Group says that not assessing risk and ensuring that it is central to the project is the reason why many large technology projects fail. He says that risk management techniques should identify the aims and ambitions of the project, the potential for missing targets on timescale and budget and the common situation of management asking for a ‘small tweak’ to software and its impact on the project. Mr Sheehan says that by having risk management at the heart of an IT project should mean businesses being able to complete their plans “painlessly, on time and on budget”. Read the full story.
Washington insurer looks for rapid growth
Farmers Insurance of Washington State is looking to expand its business by appointing 85 new agency owners. As well as insurance and sales professionals the firm is keen to support our military veterans by offering incentives to qualified ex-military, who they say have the ability to take on responsibility and operate in an intense environment. Farmers believe that there is a lot of growth for the insurance market in Washington.
European risk managers to have certification
The General Assembly of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has agreed a framework and funding to create European certification for risk managers. The programme will provide certification of the professional competences and experience of individual risk managers and accreditation for the risk management programmes of education bodies. Certification will be supported by a requirement for continuous professional development and a code of ethics. FERMA’s aim is to start accepting applications for certification from risk managers and accreditation from education providers in 2015. The President of FERMA Julia Graham commented: “This is one of the most important projects that FERMA has ever undertaken. We know there is a great appetite for certification, and it will be a key achievement for FERMA and for our member associations with whom we have engaged and worked on this project closely.”
