The purpose of this research paper is to explore enterprise risk management lessons which can be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic in preparation for potential future pandemics as well as other “gray rhino” or “black swan” events. This paper is not intended to be an all-encompassing solution to the issues presented by Covid-19; rather, the content has been provided to help drive discussions regarding how risk management processes may need to evolve in line with the dynamic nature of the underlying risks that they sometimes need to capture.

Speakers: 

Jasvir Grewal 

Jasvir Grewal is the Head of Data & Analytics of the Global Facultative Broking department at WTW. She is an experienced actuary by profession who has worked at a number of syndicates holding a wide range of roles. She has a good mix of commercial and technical skills with experience across all actuarial departments but now also most non-actuarial business functions as well. In particular, she has a strong background in capital modelling. She holds a first class honours from the University of Warwick in Mathematics and a master’s distinction from the University of Oxford in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing. In addition, she is a fully qualified actuary with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), holds the Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary designation as well as various data science certifications. Jasvir is also actively involved with research and has been a member of multiple working parties, has been a member of the IFoA’s Risk Management Board, has multiple publications and presents regularly at industry events.

Lawrence Habahbeh 

Lawrence Habahbeh is the director of Tawq ALMakhater (HedgeGenomics) for quantitative and strategic risk consulting.  He is an expert in geopolitical risk, and a risk specialist in enterprise risk management, traded Market and Counterparty risk, and climate risk modeling.  Lawrence is a member of the IFoA’s Risk Management Board and chairs the Black Swans Insurance Working party.  In addition, he leads the Climate and Sustainability working group research workstream, focusing on Integrating Environmental,  Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into risk frameworks and long-term climate risk scenarios. Lawrence has multiple publications and presents regularly at industry events.

Dr Madhu Acharyya

Dr Madhu Acharyya is a senior lecturer at the Glasgow Caledonian University (London Campus) in the UK, where he leads the MSc Insurance and Sustainable Risk Management programme. His teaching and research focus on the risk and finance topics in banking and insurance sectors. He holds PhD in Enterprise Risk Management from the University of Southampton (UK) and MSc in Insurance and Risk Management from City University (London). Professionally, Acharyya is a fellow of the Institute of Risk Management (UK) and associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK). Madhu is a member of IFoA’s Cyber Risk and Operational Risk Working Parties.

Chair: 

Peter Telford

Developing countries are likely to be the most impacted by climate and the least able to afford its consequences. COP26 President Alok Sharma has said that richer nations must deliver now on long-promised funding to help poorer countries fight climate change. However, the £100bn a year pledge by 2020 (made in 2009) has not been met and the associated commitments no longer look realistic. This first panel session of the series will explore: What do developing countries need from COP26 to make it a tangible success? Is climate finance alone enough? Will the funding that has been pledged be enough for the adaption and mitigation interventions that are required to support the transition of developing nations? Is the developing world leading the way? What role can actuaries in developing nations play to help meet climate targets? What can we learn from those on the ground? This event is part of The Road to Glasgow: IFoA’s Sustainability Thought Leadership Series which will provide a platform for prominent contributors so that our members and others can understand the perspectives of a wide range of parties interested in the climate debate.