RIMS seeks new audience for educational slate

The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) is taking its mandate to the masses, planning to broaden its reach beyond the risk management profession. In an interview at the Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society (CRIMS) Conference in Ottawa recently, RIMS executive director Jack Hampton (pictured) says the organization will be looking to educate “enterprise executives” in small to mid-size companies about risk management. In Canada, Hampton notes, RIMS will be looking to reach out to “the bosses of the risk managers”, including CEOs and CFOs, as well as such departments as human resources and legal. The goal is “to help organizations coordinate risks that run across the enterprise”, and to help executives understand risk as a business process rather than a business cost. RIMS will also be revising its mandate, through a task force chaired by past president, Roger Andrews. “In reviewing [the mission statement and objectives] last year, we realized we’d accomplished these and needed to move on,” say Andrews.

Furthermore, he notes that the society has surpassed its original goals with international expansion as seen in the successful opening of a Japan-based chapter of RIMS earlier this year.

The Canadian Risk Management Council (CRMC) plans to spend the coming year “making a name for itself”. Chair Wayne Hickey says CRMC’s objectives include bringing awareness of what the council does for Canadian RIMS members. Among the projects underway is the implementation of the new RIMS “fellow” designation in Canada, to replace the former FRM designation. Making the RIMS Fellow workshops accessible to Canadian members will be a priority, as will enhancing Canadian content in all RIMS courses. Legislatively, the CRMC and Canadian director of legislative, risk management and public affairs Lloyd Hackett, will be looking at proposed legislation and the impact this may have on the profession. Among the items on the table currently are the Atlantic Provinces’ “harmonization program” and Ontario’s new privacy legislation. The CRMC will also continue the fight against the surcharge applied to coverages bought with insurers not licensed in Canada.