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22 November 2018

The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and Commercial Risk Europe (CRE) are delighted to announce the winners of the 2018 Excellence in Risk Management Awards. The awards were presented at a gala dinner in Brussels last night.

The President of FERMA Jo Willaert congratulated the winners, saying: “The awards, which we have presented, are an acknowledgement of excellence in our own organisations, our community and the wider world. For me, the three themes I chose for my term as FERMA President, education, communication and leadership, form the basis for such excellence.”

The winners are:

Risk Manager of the Year

Alexander Mahnke (GvnW), CEO Insurance, Siemens Financial Services

The judges made this award to Alexander Mahnke for his excellent professionalism in his work and his dedication to the profession. Following a corporate restructuring and decentralisation at Siemens, he developed sophisticated allocation tools and processes to create an insurance programme that is believed to be unique in the way it provides individualised insurance cover and market-based premiums for each division. Alexander Mahnke has also served for four years as President of the German risk management association GvnW, following its creation from the merger of two previous associations.

Alexander said: “Winning this award means a lot but there is not just one risk manager. There is a team of risk managers and so this award is for the team. This award is also for the company that gives us the freedom to do what we need to do to achieve what we need to achieve.”

Read his full interview here:  Always-taking-knowledge-to-a-higher-level

BELFOR – Interview with Dr Alexander Mahnke: Unforeseeable or probable?

Risk Manager Lifetime Achievement

Annemarie Schouw (NARIM), Manager Risk and Insurance, Tata Steel Europe

Annemarie, a mining engineer by training, became involved in the risk and insurance industry almost 15 years ago. Her current employer is one of the world’s largest geographically diversified steel manufacturers of steel. During her work, said the judges, Annemarie has demonstrated extraordinary achievements within her field of expertise and supported new entrants into the field of risk and insurance management. She has also dedicated time and service to her colleagues as a member and President of NARIM, the Dutch risk management association.

Annemarie explained that becoming a risk manager was a natural progression for her from starting as a superintendent in a dredging company and then a risk engineer. “I came into contact with risk all the time. It came very naturally to me. It’s not a job; it’s a profession. It’s my passion and that’s why I can convince people it’s the best job in the world.”

Rising Star of the Year

Danielle Wishart (Airmic), Senior Business Assurance Manager, ASOS.com

Danielle has been in the risk management profession for four years, and she has achieved a lot in this short space of time, according to the judges. They selected Danielle for her wide range of technical and interpersonal skills and for her continuing determination to improve her risk management skills and education.

Said Danielle: “Risk management is the one area where you really have all eyes across the whole business. My guidance for anyone thinking of risk management as a career is to give it a go. It is a fantastic career opportunity. One day I’d like to see myself on the board as a representative of the executive committee and a risk adviser to the non-executive and executive directors.”

Innovative Insurance Programme of the Year

Philippe Cotelle (FERMA board member, AMRAE), Head of Insurance Risk Management, Airbus Defence & Space

Philippe won this award for his major project to improve cyber risk governance in Airbus, which in turn allowed him to achieve the first global cyber risk insurance programme for the entire group. It is one of the broadest in scope and largest in capacity in Europe. The judges felt Philippe had consistently demonstrated an innovative approach to one of today’s key risks, and they remarked that he had become a pioneer and campaigner for improved industry communication and best practice on digital threats.

Philippe said: “I realised that digitalisation was going to be a big issue for society, not just for my company, but that area of quantification had not been explored so far. No one could answer the basic question – how much can we lose as the result of a cyber event? The key part was trying to get quantification out of the surrounding risks. We had a number of obstacles but at the end I think we demonstrated that what we have done has real value for the company.”

Innovative Emerging Risk Programme of the Year

George Ong (Airmic), Head of Governance, Northern Ireland Water

George Ong oversaw the implementation of an integrated risk and resilience framework for Northern Ireland Water to manage threats and opportunities in current and future risk exposures. One of the many successful outcomes of this project in managing opportunity is the way that the organisation has transformed its perception of mental health and its impact on sickness absence into positive colleague engagement and support.

George explained his innovation: “We developed what we call an integrated risk and resilience framework. We wanted to change the culture of thinking that we are just suppliers and thinking of ourselves as partners. By working as partners, we could understand and help solve problems and take advantage of opportunities as well.”

This is the third year that FERMA has conducted the Excellence in Risk Management Awards in cooperation with the publication Commercial Risk Europe. The awards also have two categories open to the insurance industry: Excellence in Customer Service and Industry Leadership. An independent judging panel of leading risk managers within FERMA and the national associations choose the winners of all the awar

For more pictures of the event clik here 

Media Contacts

Lee Coppack

FERMA media coordinator, +44 (0) 7843 089904 and +44 (0) 208 318 0330, lee@coppack.co.uk

Typhaine Beaupérin

CEO FERMA, +32 (2) 761 94 31, typhaine.beauperin@ferma.eu