A team from FERMA attended the Rims conference in Denver in April. The traditional gathering of representatives of
the International Federation of Risk and Insurance Management Associations (IFRIMA) on Saturday evening was a good
occasion for both President Julia Graham and Executive Director Florence Bindelle to meet their counterparts from RIMS and at global level. Sunday, FERMA joined the 2nd working group meeting to discuss the framework of risk management education.

The usual first timers’ session interestingly gave an overview of the major developments of this year’s conference:
strong social media campaign and rewards; a 70 per cent increase in session numbers by reducing the length; market place with a large number of sessions as at FERMA and a strong focus on education (160 students present).

On Monday, the theme of globalisation was reinforced in the opening speech of President Carol Snow and executive director Mary Roth. Controversial keynote speaker Jordan Belfort followed with a pitch on his success leading to failure as a way of redemption; for the those who followed his story he stressed that he has now stayed 17 years without any drugs. The IFRIMA Board meeting took place on Tuesday.

The great exhibition hall saw FERMA holding a number of meetings with counterparts from AMRAE, Parima, Alarys and IRM and partners. We discussed preparations for a nice welcome to the risk management community at our 2015 Forum in Venice with Italian insurer Generali and the development of the Austrian risk management association. Attending a number of sessions, we could see the move to shift the competences of the profession to encompass a larger scope of responsibilities, for example in relation to developing a corporate responsibility framework that includes consideration of climate change.