Europe, risk management and insurance are at a cross-roads, says FERMA President

Risk management and the insurance industry are today at crossroads as they face a changing European environment and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the President of FERMA Jo Willaert stated this morning as he opened the 2017 FERMA Forum in Monaco.

“We are living in a fascinating time. There are certainly threats but also many opportunities. We find ourselves at a cross-roads, and we are all looking for the right directions. I believe that by an emphasis on leadership, communication and education, the risk manager can be not just a map reader, but a map maker. The risk manager can be the leader in his or her function and foster the leadership of the enterprise,” he said speaking to more than 1300 risk professionals from across Europe.

Jo Willaert emphasised the positive nature of managed risk-taking and said that risk managers and the insurance industry should play an essential role in helping European businesses to embrace opportunities.

There is great unpredictability, he explained. The European Union is going through a period of change, and there are many global challenges – political tensions, mass migration and climate change, among them. At the same time, a Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking us in some unpredictable directions. “Risk taking is essential to the sustainability of business, not in spite of this environment, but because of it,” he said.

For risk managers, the way forward is to support and inform risk taking. “We play a valuable role in our risk reporting and compliance function, but we should also have the confidence to build on that aspect of our work and show how managed taking-risk is positive and essential to the sustainability of the enterprise. If we can do this, our choice of future routes is wide.”

The insurance community, said Jo Willaert, will remain the risk managers’ closest partner, but he called on brokers and insurers to work in a new way with European businesses by emphasising service and broader solutions, rather than traditional underwriting and lines of business. “Insurers are at a cross-roads, but not at a dead end! We encourage the industry to follow a different route, expanding the type of solutions and providing services, such as their technical expertise and data sharing, in partnership with their corporate clients.”

He concluded: “Our ultimate destination is a prosperous and sustainable future for Europe, for our enterprises and for our communities, but there are decisions to be made about the route. I believe that the risk management community is in a strong position to support the decision makers.”

The FERMA Forum 2017 is taking place from 15-18 October at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo.

For updates, follow us on twitter @fermarisk and the hash tag #fermaforum.

Have a look at pictures of FERMA Forum Day One – 16 October

Share with others

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required
Interests

By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our Privacy policy.

You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at enquiries@ferma.eu.

We use MailChimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing to our newsletter, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to MailChimp for processing. Learn more about MailChimp’s privacy practices here.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.