O'Hare Says RMs Need Overview
By Caroline McDonald
NU Online News Service, April 26, 11:13 a.m. EST, New Orleans?Companies striving to manage potential crises on the order of Sept. 11 should make risk management an enterprise-wide, senior-level function, advised Dean R. O'Hare, chairman and chief executive officer of the Chubb Corp.
Mr. O'Hare told members of the press at the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. conference last week that Chubb is in the process of appointing a risk manager for the entire firm, "responsible for the totality of our risks." He said that few companies "are now at that point but many are going there."
Mr. O'Hare added that, "knowing you're taking the risks is important. Many companies don't know what risks they are taking."
Mr. O'Hare called upon risk managers to help put an end to the management of risks in a "silo fashion" by making an effective case with senior management for the creation of enterprise-wide risk management programs, overseen by chief risk officers.
He explained that there is a "substantial overlap among many risks," but that in most cases risk managers are not responsible for managing risks across the entire enterprise.
"Managing risks in silos is inefficient and costly," he said. "Even more frightening are the risks that fall between the silos, unnoticed, leaving the organization severely exposed."
The "smartest CEOs and Boards" are taking more interest in risk management and "recognize this as a matter of good corporate governance," he said.
Mr. O'Hare stressed that it is vital that Congress enact a federal terrorism insurance backstop. "I guarantee you that the impact on the economy will be devastating in the event of another major incident?especially now that many companies are going without terrorism coverage," he said.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.