Demonstrating management competence and maintaining risk quality

An international financial services company operating in the UK, Singapore and Bermuda asked Zurich to help prioritise the application of risk management resources during rapid business expansion. They needed to satisfy current and prospective investors that the risks being taken were fully understood and controlled. It was important to maintain their credit rating and access to funds during this growth phase.

• A team of six directors and senior executives, including the CEO and CFO, met in 2000 for an intensive 14 hour session over two days to analyse threats to successful expansion. They used Zurich’s Total Risk Profiling (TRP) process with the help of Zurich’s consultants, to identify and rate 35 scenarios, of which 8 merited immediate action and a further 5 were placed on a "watch list".
• The seven page prioritised action plan that resulted from this workshop included assignments of responsibility and due dates for completion of intermediate steps.
• Results were recorded in the TRP database software, and transmitted to all the company’s offices by e-mail a few days later as a comprehensive Excel report file that could be incorporated into other management systems.
• The report has been shared with key investors to demonstrate the quality of risk management, and business growth is proceeding according to plan. Management attention has been concentrated on the most important issues, and a repeat workshop to review progress is being considered.