AGERS (Spain)
The 23rd annual AGERS Congress took place on 30 May in Madrid, opened by the president of the Spanish insurance and reinsurance association, UNESPA, Pilar Gonález de Frutos. It brought together risk managers from telecommunications, energy, financial services, food and hospitality, distribution and logistics, among other industries.
The discussions turned around economic risks, including managing risks in the face of insolvencies, and the protection of critical infrastructure. They did not neglect risks related to technology, reputation and liability for financial lines. FERMA President Jorge Luzzi took responsibility for closing the event.
AGERS held its general assembly on the same day, and accepted three new members: Cristina Gutiérrez Pérez, Mario Ramírez Ortúzar (CHL) and Luis San Juan Monteo (XL Group).
Previously, AGERS organised a day to examine the regime for financial responsibility for environmental liability in Spain following the publication of a new regulation dated 22 June. AGERS held a course on transport risks on 20 and 21 June and will continue its training programme in the autumn.
Airmic (United Kingdom)
Airmic used its annual conference in Liverpool in June to announce several new initiatives as well as progress with existing ones.
The three largest brokers – Aon, Marsh and Willis – have agreed to support the creation of a new international database to make it easier for brokers, underwriters and buyers to comply with insurance regulations on a territory-by-territory basis. The market-wide initiative has the full support of FERMA and RIMS, and Airmic has also had discussions with several insurers.
Airmic also announced plans to develop a new model clause on reservation of rights for insertion into insurance contracts, unveiled a risk guide for directors produced jointly with the Institute of Directors, produced research into the cyber-insurance market, a report (with Marsh) on the use of risk management in mergers and acquisitions, and a report on career progression for risk managers. For news of these and other developments, please go to www.airmic.com
The conference attracted 815 delegates which included 335 members, the largest ever attendance.
AMRAE (France)
AMRAE has taken a first important step in bridging the gaps uncovered between risk and human resource managers highlighted in a survey among members of the National Association of Directors of Human in April and May this year.
Almost 300 participants took part in the first risk management and human resources encounters which AMRAE organised at the Atlantic coast resort of La Baule on 25 and 26 June. Many of those attending came from mid-market businesses without a professional risk manager, showing a high level of interest in risk issues among their HR managers. Among the topics they covered were the increased exposure to employees resulting from international expansion of French companies and the current state of the insurance market for personnel risks.
ANRA (Italy)
ANRA was founded on 12 June 1972. This event was celebrated, exactly 40 years later, by a party organized by ANRA in Milan, at the wonderful venue of Villa Necchi Campiglio, an historical dwelling in the city center.
More than 280 people from the community of risk managers, insurers, brokers and all the insurance industry attended the event. Many commemorative plaques were distributed to associations, sponsors and past members. Among them were Stelvio Palazzo, former risk manager of Olivetti, one of the founders of ANRA, and Annita Pappagallo, former president of the association.
Paolo Rubini, president of ANRA, declared: “Since its beginning 40 year ago, ANRA has contributed to changing the Italian insurance market, fostering the process of innovation. ANRA has also raised the standing of our profession, increasing the relevance and the respect of the risk manager in the Italian corporations”.
BELRIM (Belgium)
Belrim held its general assembly on 7 June. ING was the host and participants got to see some hidden secrets of the Coudenberg site where the palace of Brussels was located from the 12th to the 18th century.
Two new board members were elected: Malou Gossez and Sonia Cambier. Diane Mintjes and Jean-Marie Shollaert had their mandates renewed. At 31 May, BELRIM had 107 working members and 92 affiliated members.
In May BELRIM held a seminar on global programmes under the title: Is compliance nirvana possible? Forty participants, hosted by Chartis, agreed that this was, indeed, a tricky question and they identified some potential solutions for multinational companies.
Next on the programme are a dinner for new members on 13 September and a seminar on cyber risks on 27 September.
DARIM (Denmark)
DARIM held its annual general assembly on 12 June.
The general assembly re-elected Charlotte Enggaard, Carlsberg Breweries, as Chairman, and elected a new member of the board: Henric Steuch from DT Group.
DARIM is continuing its 25th anniversary celebrations with an event on 13-14 September in Gl. Vindinge and has invited representatives from Norway’s NORIMA and Sweden’s SWERMA to take part. The first day of the event will cover supply chain risks, including natural catastrophes and suppliers. On the second day, there will be discussions on European and Nordic relations in the risk management area.
DVS (Germany)
The DVS Symposium will take place in Munich from 4 to 6 September. After the opening by DVS chairman Klaus Greimel, the CEO of HDI-Gerling, Christian Hinsch, will give the first speech. Among the topics to be covered during breakout sessions are insurance in Russia and other CIS countries, contract logistics, environmental insurance in the EU, risk transparency and natural hazards in highly exposed areas. The event will close with a panel discussion on the new world ranking of the insurance industry with speakers from DVS and the industry, moderated by Herbert Fromme of the Financial Times Germany.
DVS also has several training seminars organised in Bonn in September, for example on fire safety and fire insurance on 18 September, the current situation in the insurance market on 19 September and liability insurance for business on 25 September. More information from the DVS website.
IGREA (Spain)
The president of IGREA Daniel San Millán held a working meeting with the country’s director of general insurance Falvia Dona Rodriguez-Pombo during the first week of June.
It was part of a series of contacts that IGREA has organised with players in the insurance market for them to work with its members. Daniel thanked the insurance authorities for hearing the concerns of commercial insurance buyers who are not covered by the laws that protecting consumer insurance buyers.
IGREA held its general assembly on 27 June.
MARM (Malta)
Malta’s Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment, Tonio Fenech, gave the opening address on 27 June at the first in a series of half-day conferences and seminars on governance, risk management and compliance in the public and private sectors organised by MARM.
“So who is going to save the world? Risk managers, of course!” This was the interesting title of the opening presentation by Professor Robin Pritchard – head of the business school at Birmingham City University. Kam Pouyamajd – head of portfolio analytics and risk at Bloomberg for Europe, Middle East and South Africa spoke on market risk, and Professor Vito Spada, a senior banker and currently professor of banking and finance at the University of Salento in Lecce, was the speaker on debt and central banks.
NARIM (Netherlands)
Annemarie Schouw has been elected the new President of NARIM in succession to Ellen Rekker. Annemarie is the risk and insurance manager for Tata Steel Ijmuiden.
The NARIM Conference 2012 in The Hague in June attracted a record number of 315 participants. It offered a wide variety of topics in the form of debates and presentations, not just focusing on the sector itself, on the subject of: “What’s next?”
Every company attending the conference supported a manifesto that aims to improve the appeal of the risk and insurance sector for young professionals. It calls on junior and senior employees for their support. The first person to sign the manifesto was the outgoing President of NARIM Ellen Rekker.
Young risk professional Denise Ozmis, claims manager at multinational AkzoNobel in the Netherlands and Young InSurance member, and Jeroen Everling of Aon argued that relatively few young professionals were entering into the sector. When the generation of baby boomers retired, their essential expertise and knowledge would be lost and important networks would disappear. The trend, they said, needed to be reversed.
POLRISK (Poland)
The VI International POLRISK Conference will take place 19 to 21 November at the Holiday Inn in Józefów near Warsaw. The programme will be available soon.
John Hull, a renowned authority on risk management, will be running a seminar in Warsaw on 13 September on the topic: “The theory and practice of credit risk”.
POLRISK is one of the partners of the seminar, so if you are interested in participating, please mention “FERMA” while contacting the organisers at hull@personalities.pl to get a discount.