Risk Commentary

Requests for Risk Management Case Studies

Online Risk Management Course – Requests for Case Studies

In the previous post, I mentioned that many online and on site course participants have  requested specific advice on managing risks in one or another domain; for example (to repeat):

Specific insurance coverages
First party claims
Operational risk
Risk management in the energy field
Marketing risks
Property and casualty insurance

I have been able to answer certain other requests through online course materials and blog posts.

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Feedback from ERM Sessions – Online

Online Risk Management Course – Assessment

The online risk management courses I offer through Risk and Insurance Management Society includes How to Conduct High Quality Risk Assessment, which, in the first two years of its running, got an approval rating (“would recommend this course to others”) of 88%.  Some of the positive feedback stating “the most beneficial aspects” is as follows:

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Report on ERM Sessions – On Site

Risk Management Workshop On Site

Since January I have conducted on site both a custom-designed session on ERM, as well as the RIMS workshop Enterprise Risk Management – Developing and Implementing. Some participants have followed up by taking the new CRM-E (enterprise) risk manager’s online exam, based on the text. These sessions took place in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton.

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Risk Assessment as Due Diligence in Finance

In the previous post, issues were raised about the Canadian financial system: is the Barret affair indicative of a much wider problem? Is Canada relatively immune from a deepening depression in the US and Europe? Are Canadian banks, in particular, on solid ground? The main implication I am trying to point out for risk managers is that, in whatever context you happen to be working, a multi-faceted risk assessment that questions common assumptions is at least possible, if perhaps not common.

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Risk in Canadian Financial System

In a previous post on Canadian Financial Risk, I reported on commentator Bob Chapman’s assessment. He had said that Canada has a very solvent financial system; has always been very conservative; and that while the US and Europe are headed for a significant crisis, the magnitude of its effect on Canada should be about half of what they will experience. I expressed doubt that Canada’s isolation is really guaranteed.

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Online Courses: Risk Assessment in Many Contexts

In a previous post I had this headline: Firms struggle with how to conduct risk assessment and quoted from  a series of surveys going back to 2008. News has been continuing in the same vein, so for example last year’s Economist Intelligence Unit paper (Nov 2010) entitled “Fall guys: Risk management in the front line” reported that only 35% of respondents believe their firms are effective in detecting emerging risks.
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Risk Tolerance in Non-Financial Contexts

Definitions of risk tolerance can border on the absurd, showing a slavish adoption of financial terminology where it makes no sense.

The degree of risk tolerance, whether at the individual or organizational level, describes whether you are relatively:
1) risk-averse (risk avoiding) in exchange for a degree of certainty regarding the reward in question; or
2) risk-seeking, (accepting of risk) in exchange for the chance of higher gains.
These orientations towards uncertainty can be expressed quantitatively and qualitatively.
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Greek Debt Crisis-Bob Chapman’s Summary

This is part 2 of financial commentator Bob Chapman’s answer to my question about the actions of speculators targeting countries’ economies, and Canada’s position. In my last post, he covered Canadian Financial Risk; here I paraphrase his answer about Greece. The interview was podcast by James Corbett.

Part 2:
What happened in Greece was a combination of things…
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