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Canadian and Bermudian insurers are more likely than their U.S. or Asian/Pacific counterparts to deliver quarterly risk reports to their boards, according to a study by Tillinghast of Towers Perrin.

The study is Tillinghast’s fourth biennial survey of risk and capital management practices among insurers worldwide.

The 2006 study focuses on a number of issues including risk measurement, quantification competencies, how companies calculate and use economic capital (EC), risk reporting and areas where the global insurance community is seeking to improve their risk management capabilities.

Other key findings from the study:

* external pressure has raised the bar for risk management globally. Most companies surveyed said they considered ‘good business practice’ to be the principal driver for their efforts, adding that rating agency considerations are a significant factor for North Americans;

* two-thirds of the global insurance industry uses EC as a risk quantification tool; and

* insurers are using a diverse set of risk metrics. The most common are statutory or regulatory capital and surplus, economic value and GAAP or IAS measures.

“Companies are clearly more disciplined in their use of ERM today than ever before,” said managing director Tricia Guinn, who oversees both the Tillinghast and reinsurance businesses of Towers Perrin. “Catastrophic events, capital efficiencies and competitive pressures have driven companies to adopt less of a ‘seat-of-the-pants’ approach to risk issues.”