The CRO Forum 2016, organised by the Malaysian Association of Risk and Insurance Management (MARIM), saw the attendance of more than 50 risk practitioners from various backgrounds and industries in Malaysia.
Held in Kuala Lumpur in January, the forum was opened by the new MARIM Chairman, Mr Lim Tong Kang, who in his welcome address, highlighted that sharing of knowledge was the prime objective of this forum, which is in line with MARIM’s role to promote risk management best practices in Malaysia, according to the ISO 31000 standard.
Other speakers included Mr Eddy Pk Hon, CEO/Executive Director of CIMB Howden, who spoke about the art of financing losses and Mr Halim Jantan, CEO of Sterling Insurance Brokers, who talked about the global risk outlook.
Mr Halim’s presentation was based on research done by PWC on strategic risk management. He highlighted the following for risk practitioners to note:
• Directors did not fully understand the major risks their businesses faced.
• The current approach to risk management no longer fits the purpose.
• Checks and balances at the board level are critical.
• Preventing “digital wildfires” – Corporations must hit the ground running with the right responses delivered to avoid being caught unprepared.
• The CEO and Board must set the right behaviour and risk-awareness culture, in line with their business management strategy.
• The external viewpoint that an independent director can bring to the boardroom plays an essential part in ensuring the breadth of risk-thinking and enhances the development of strategic thinking.
• Develop and expand the existing framework, drawing on outside experiences and knowledge wherever possible.
Mr Halim also urged the organisation to engage actuaries to calculate their risk methodology to ensure that the Board is fully aware of the risk appetite. He added that Chief Risk Officers (CRO) must drive the strategic risk management assessment from the top to ensure the risks are not being overlooked and poorly quantified.
There was a brainstorming session and delegates were divided into six core industries’ groupings – Energy & Power, Industrial & Manufacturing, Product and Services, Medical Services, Educational & Services and Telecommunication, to share their common strategy risks.
Throughout the day, the key points raised by the speakers centred on the importance of risk management leadership that CROs need to create a proactive measure of risk, the importance of risk awareness at all levels across the company, and the lack of skilled talent. The findings will be further discussed at a MARIM conference later this year.