Actuarial profession and the Risk Function - from 'land grab' to 'colonisation'?

Back in the early days of this Blog I used to post frequently on the Solvency II-sponsored creep towards Risk functions in insurers being 'Chiefed' by members of the actuarial profession as a matter of course rather than choice (here, here and here for a start). It was even a thread in a presentation I delivered to ILAG in late 2012 around areas of control function crossover, in particular that the actuarial profession was acknowledging that there were professional deficiencies in their ability to address the basics of an actuarial function under Solvency II, yet preferred the ambition of conquering a newer (less arduous?) space ahead of remedying them.

Whilst a quant is no doubt a decent fit for such a task, it was an evident snub to the nascent Risk Management 'profession', who took umbridge at the implication of such compulsion from the UK regulator in April 2011, though with seemingly little impact. However, limits to the amount of time and money bodies such as the IRM and FERMA can throw at developing a one-size-fits-all Risk Management qualification package that can appeal to quants and non-quants alike, plus some furious inter-squabbling in the ISO 31000 world, are certainly not lending any credence to "Risk Management" as a profession in its own right as we stand.

Risk and Actuarial professions - 'Poles' apart?

Over in Ireland, the opportunity for the Actuarial profession to secure an additional control function has been pursued so rabidly that the SAI incoming and outgoing presidents were recently able to congratulate themselves on having busted into "the new frontier" of Risk, and are now moving on into "colonisation mode" (p2)! In the UK, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries already seem to consider that area of influence secured judging by the new president's remarks recently, indicating a desire to influence more mainstream debates than those around risk management systems and corporate governance.

The UK and Ireland don't appear to be the only ones afflicted by the perception of compulsory quants in Risk functions. Munich Re's excellent Knowledge Series delivers a Germanic take that there is "no doubt" that professional mathematicians will be needed for tomorrow's Risk functions.

When considering the history of the Actuarial profession (beautifully summarised here), there should be no reason why Risk Management cannot achieve a similar position given time, regardless of the disparity in existing approaches from representative bodies. A modular qualification which can prepare a 'risk professional' for their favoured activity (insurance buying/continuity management/financial risk/op risk/ERM) is surely an ambition which those bodies can harbour in concert? My concern would naturally be that I probably don't have another 50-100 years to wait for the that convergence to happen and enhance my own career prospects!

Or maybe I do - does anyone know an expert in longevity?

CFOs, CROs, conflicting messages and strategy - FERMA paper

A couple of pieces of work caught my eye this week on the subject of risk leadership and participation in strategy, with a distinctly financial twist.

The first, a joint effort between FERMA and Finance Director Europe covers a number of themes leading on from FERMA's conference a month back. Some of this report seemed to fly in the face of best practice ERM (for example, broader strategic ERM has evolved through executives realising they need to manage downside risk better? Does it perhaps represent a little more than that in 2011?).

A FERMA board member is cited as believing risk should be "supporting strategy development" rather than participating (which would leave a CRO where exactly?). The next article indeed directly contradicts this view, quoting a risk executive who actively participated in the GRC strategy formulation for his firm, followed swiftly by the AIRMIC/Cass Business School research which bemoans the 'glass ceiling' which prevents risk managers addressing issues in a company's top echelons!

That article also has the UK "...leading the way in enterprise risk management and corporate governance" (I would probably go US and Ireland respectively with a 2011/12 hat on).

The VP of FERMA is then quoted in day-job mode  noting "risk management...is partly about comforting non-executive directors so that they are less risk-averse" - personally I like a bit of conservatism in my NEDs, and I wouldn't like to think I am employed to teach them how to gamble! This is accompanied by the CFO of the same firm notes "the CFO and CRO may have natural conflict, the former driving growth and the latter controlling risk" - again, are Risk, as the second line of defence, really there to 'control' risk?

Finally, the CFO at Old Mutual is quoted as suggesting the complexity of proposed EU regulation (citing Solvency II specifically) might be contributing to elements of risk it is supposed to be preventing.

FERMA Risk Conference - various content

Seems to be a good amount of debate and activity over in Stockholm for the FERMA conference - I heartily recommend the blog.

So far the VP of FERMA has blown FERMA's trumpet, a futurologist (now there's a profession!)recommends looking out for "ninja" trends whilst referring to risk professionals as "sexy magician types", and the head of an enormous German bank telling us that "risk management deficiencies" were at the heart of the financial crisis (as opposed to avaricious bankers). The phrase schadensh*zen springs immediately to mind...

In addition, there was a nice piece on Captives under Solvency II (I liked the parallel between a tightening reinsurance market alongside the expense of allocating additional capital to captive vehicles looking like a double-whammy), and FERMA's VP in the action again recommending that the risk profession engages in some 'upskilling' in order to be engaged more fully with the board, noting "It is all about talking the language of the board...and that is financials".

I wouldn't agree with that, but I appreciate the sentiment in the context of the actuarial professions' upskilling exercises with the CRO/Head of Risk Function role in mind.