Description: The author summarizes certain presentations at the ERM II Systemic Risk Workshop. The key objective of the workshop was to develop recommendations that could serve as input to regulators, legislators and other policy makers in designing and implementing systemic risk regulation that can prevent future financial crises.

Description: Various ingredients contributed to the current financial crisis, and we can learn many lessons from the crisis. Yet rather than myopically focus on the particular minutiae of the current circumstances, we ought to pay special attention to those central issues that underpin the current crisis, past crises and future crises. Focus is on risk adjusting reported profits.

Description: An update to the risk management readers on what the JRMS is planning to do over 2023 to serve its membership.

Description: Duration matching is a risk management strategy, commonly used in the insurance industry, where the duration (price sensitivity to a yield curve movement) of an asset portfolio is adjusted to be made equal to the duration of the liability. However, this approach has flaws. In this essay, I note some key failures of duration matching and offer a potential alternative.

Description: Since most cash flows being discounted in the value calculation are dependent on the forward rates, in the key-rate calculation forwards (not spots) should be shifted. I will show that if spots are shifted up/down, they would not necessarily result in forwards being up/down for all the years in the particular key rate, resulting in unexpected results. I will further show how metrics calculated by shifting forwards versus spots enhance the accuracy of the approximation of projected value in various rate environments.

Description: Strategic Risk Management was given lower priority in a recent survey of ERM Objectives. This article tells how the author believes that recent events have caused many to shift to a more short term focus and in the future there will be a shift back to a priority for the longer term view that stands behind Strategic Risk Management when the environment settles down and things again seem to be more predictable.

Description: In the current environment of global competition, the question of how much, and in what way, the enterprise risk management (ERM) function contributes to the creation of shareholder value will only increase in importance and urgency.

Description: The paper discusses the arguments supporting the need for risk culture to transition into ERM culture to be embedded across financial organizations. Creating and maintaining strong ERM culture is paramount to a lasting and meaningful ERM program. It is essential for organizations to understand what ERM culture is, how it gets established and in what way affects the process of ERM implementation. Often, the implications of financial enterprises not focusing on the significance of ERM culture manifested in severely compromised ability to generate sustainable value and market competitive advantage. This paper calls for rethinking the role of ERM culture in the context of managing risks.

Description: Read the August 2016 issue of Risk Management published by the Joint Risk Management Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Update on research activities.