FERMA concludes 2023 risk management seminar

The 12th Federation of European Risk Management Association (FERMA) Seminar on Risk Management has concluded with a call to risk managers to keep demonstrating the vital role they play in enabling the risk-based decision making critical to the ongoing sustainability and competitiveness of corporations.

The two-day educational event - ‘The Roadmap to Strategic Risk Management’ - hosted by FERMA in Antwerp, Belgium provided a platform for over 320 delegates from the risk profession across Europe to explore some of the current and future challenges and opportunities for the sector. The seminar included chief executive and chief risk officer panel sessions, as well as a series of workshops targeting key aspects of the theme for the event.

The seminar included a chief executive panel discussion with Pascal Juery, chief executive at Agfa, and François Michel, chief executive at John Cockerill during which the panellists provided the insights into how risk management feeds into the strategic decision-making process.

Speaking at the seminar on the criticality of the risk management perspective in strategic decision making, Juery said: “Risk management is an integral part of all the strategic decisions that are made at Agfa. Not only do we see this as vital to ensuring our organisational resilience, but also to future-proofing our operations which is the primary objective for me.” He added that the goal for the risk manager in his view is to “become a strategic partner helping us integrate risk management into the overall strategic planning of the company.”

Commenting on how risk management is integrated into decision making at John Cockerill and how the function has evolved within the organisation, Michel said: “The greater the volatility of the risks that we see, the more stability in the process, maturity of approach, and quality of judgement I expect to receive from the risk management function. This is what we have in place at John Cockerill, and what we have invested a lot of time in to develop.”

At the end of the event Laurence Eeckman, a FERMA Board member, chair of the FERMA seminar and vice president of Group Risk Management at Atlas Copco, said: “CROs have become the go-to-people within their organisations as they bring added value to their boards and CEOs in risk -based decision making. But even in very mature organisations there are still challenges.”

FERMA invited delegates to continue the discussion at the FERMA Forum 2024. Launching the theme for the event – “Join the Risk Revolution” – it announced the forum will take place on 20-22 October 2024 in Madrid, Spain. Stating that risk management is at a critical turning point, the event will provide an opportunity to explore evolving risk ecosystems and enhance vital knowledge and skills.