The Risk Management Institute of Australasia (RMIA) has a rich 30-year pedigree of serving the professional development needs of risk management professionals in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
“The RMIA is the leading professional institution and industry association for risk managers in the Asia Pacific region,” said RMIA CEO Jason Smith. “One of the compelling aspects of the RMIA membership is that we have such a broad base of members who work in both the private and public sectors but who represent almost every major sector of the economy.”
This diversity in membership base makes the RMIA’s various networking events particularly rewarding – and these events are migrating online in the face of the coronavirus disruption. “Yes – we are currently digital and online with all our networking which is great for professionals in Asia,” Mr Smith said.
Collaborations increase depth of offering
“What also makes us unique as a risk-management institute in our region is the strategic partnerships which we have with other leading and like-minded professional services institutes,” said Mr Smith.
He is alluding to working partnerships with the likes of the Australian Supply Chain Institute, the Australian Information Security Association and the Australian chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
“These relationships create real value for our members, given the joint networking events which we hold and access through leadership and expert training seminars in the related disciplines which our partners represents - supply chain management, cyber and information security and internal auditing,” he said.
A push into Asia
So why is RMIA turning its focus towards Asia Pacific? “I think that it is as much a ‘pull’ as it is a ‘push’,” said Mr Smith. “For example, we have a member who is based in Cambodia and was keen to travel all the way to Perth to attend our flagship enterprise risk-training course. As such, the professional development, training and accreditation needs are really no different for risk management professionals based in Asia or the Middle East as they are in Australia.”
The feedback that RMIA has received is that these needs are not being consistently serviced in the Asia and Middle East and that the broad spectrum of services for members offered by RMIA is exactly what risk management, compliance and governance professionals are looking for.
“Another example of the ‘pull’ is that recently we were the only risk management institute in the Australia Pacific region to be invited to participate in the ‘G20 Risk and Resilience Alliance’ which seeks to have a strong voice amongst the G20 members for matters relating to risk management,” said Mr Smith.
“Personally, I have a strong affinity with Asia having previously lived and worked in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore for many years in various CRO and risk-management roles in financial services,” said Mr Smith. “Given this, I’m acutely aware of how talented risk management, compliance and governance professionals are throughout Asia and the Middle East and how hungry they are for not only thought leadership but also high-quality professional development, professional accreditation and networking opportunities.”
The programme with Asia Insurance Review
Given the richness of the RMIA’s strategic partnerships, it has been able to pull together a compelling series of what will end up being more than 20 webinars set in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis.
“The 30 to 60 minute webinars each covers a very wide range of issues which are highly relevant to risk management, compliance and financial services professionals,” said Mr Smith. “Topics include global economic impacts and ramifications; emerging global risks; supply chain management; dealing with cyber security risks; enterprise and operational risk management; business continuity and enterprise resilience; and other relevant risk management and compliance issues.”
The content for the series often comes from professional partners. “Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in particular has committed to working with us to provide this diversity of content, as have our other sponsors – KPMG and Protecht.
“Equally compelling is the supply chain and cyber security thought leadership provided by our respective strategic partners being the Australian Supply Chain Institute and the Australian Information Security Association. Overall, we have amassed a strong line-up of global thought leaders to assist in thinking through how to continue to navigate through and ultimately ‘bounce forward’ with even greater resilience from this crisis,” said Mr Smith.
From little acorns
This first collaboration with Asia Insurance Review will be followed by more, equally compelling, content before too long.
“Swiss Re’s first webinar, presented by chief economist Jerome Haegeli, is captivating for anyone seeking to understand the ongoing macroeconomic implications of this crisis. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has committed to working with us on at least 10 additional webinars covering a broad range of topics from business resilience, financial management and also a webinar on ‘Sigma 2/2020: Natural catastrophes in times of economic accumulation and climate change’,” said Mr Smith.
“I will be providing an upcoming webinar on business continuity in conjunction with Stephen Higginson from the Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Australian headquarters. Warren Black will also be providing fascinating commentary on ‘Risk management v4.0 - how the fourth industrial revolution is expected to shape the future of risk management’. And there will be more,” he said. A