Have you considered further risk specific studies and qualifications?   

I spoke to Iain Wright, Chair of the Institute of Risk Management, about the work they are doing. It’s fair to say there are plenty of routes for you to take for further development and learning, and the IRM have a wide range of short and longer courses. Risk continues to expand as a discipline and employers are increasingly asking for evidence of further learning outside of your day job, and I’m always a big advocate of further development which can help you get to where you want to be career wise.   

We discussed: 

🔸 An introduction to the Institute of Risk Management (0:29) 

🔸 Why should someone be considering further risk studies, and what are the benefits (3:31) 

🔸 What should someone be considering when deciding which qualification to take (8:25) 

🔸 Are employers increasingly asking for qualified risk professionals (14:48)  

Feel free to share with anyone who may be interested in further risk studies, or to risk leaders who may be looking at considering qualifications for those in their team.    

Linkedin pages: 

The Institute of Risk Management - https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-of-risk-management/

Iain Wright - https://www.linkedin.com/in/iain-wright/

Edward James - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/

Would you appreciate any CV or interview advice?

This week I spoke with Andrew Carr from Fitch Ratings about these two very simple themes which should be a useful reference tool for anyone updating their CV or preparing for an interview. This conversation was focused on those who are looking at credit roles, but the general themes and points should be appropriate to anyone:

🔸 What advice would you give to anyone updating their CV

🔸 What should you be considering before attending an interview

Feel free to share with any contacts who are looking for a new role.

Andrew Carr - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-carr-6a789732/ 

Edward James - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/

I was delighted to be joined by Michiel Haasbroek who has experience as a CRO both in Asia (ABN Amro in China) and Europe (Banque Internationale à Luxembourg in Switzerland). Michiel offered insights into the varying regulatory regimes in addition to comparisons between the Corporate and Private Banking worlds.   

Key bookmarks and points: 

🔸 The differences between regulatory regimes in Asia and Europe (0:56) 

🔸 How the role of CRO differs between Corporate and Private Banking environments (4:38) 

🔸 How did you find the move from Asia to Europe, on a personal and professional level (10:56) 

🔸 Expectations for hiring in the CRO market going into 2021 (16:28) 

🔸 How has the role of CRO evolved following the Covid crisis (21:00)  

Linkedin profiles 

Michiel Haasbroek Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michiel-haasbroek-18987a5/

Edward James Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/

This week I was joined by Francesco Roda, the Chief Risk Officer of Koine Finance to discuss the digital asset revolution.   

We’ve all heard of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but digital assets are far wider and broader than I had appreciated. It’s a highly interesting area which investors are increasingly looking at. This episode is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (links in the comments section)  

Key topics: 

🔸 What are digital assets? (0:51) 

🔸 What is the tokenisation or digitalisation of value? (4:05)  

🔸 What are the risks posed to intermediaries and investors by digital assets? (8:04) 

🔸 As investors are looking with increased interest at digital assets, are financial markets prepared for this revolution or will be they taken by surprise? (13:12) 

🔸 Are financial intermediaries resisting change? (14:40)  

#riskmanagement #digitalassets #cryptocurrencies #financialservices #risktalks 

Linkedin profiles:  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/francescoroda/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/

A Head of Risk who also runs a career coaching consultancy? That’s quite a unique mix of skills, and Simon Cooper offers some valuable career coaching advice specifically geared toward the risk community (although personally I’d suggest it’s really valuable advice for anyone).

Whether you’re already a CRO, or looking to progress your career, Simon offers many points to think about.

Have you been risk averse with your career moves? Should you be more bold?

Have you recently taken a step back and thought about where your future lies?

All too often I, as a recruiter, engage with people when they are actively looking for a new role and feel that some of the questions asked by Simon will help you proactively develop the direction of your career.

Bookmarks include:

🔸 What is career coaching (2:13)

🔸 What are the key challenges people face in managing their careers within risk – Simon (5:22) & Ed (9:01)

🔸 How are key skills likely to evolve over the next 10 years – Simon (13:09) & Ed (17:22)

🔸 What are the four key steps risk professionals can use to develop resilient careers? (19:30)

#riskmanagement #financialservices #personaldevelopment #careercoaching

Simon can be found on linkedin at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-cooper-6506767/

Ed can be found on linkedin at: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/ 

Are you considering geopolitical risk when making key decisions?  I’m seeing geopolitical risk being discussed more frequently, and it was a pleasure to be joined on this weeks “Risk Talks” episode by Derek Leatherdale, the ex Global Head of Geopolitical Risk at HSBC. Our discussion was focused on Geopolitical Risk considerations specifically for risk managers. I hope you find this to be of interest.  

Key topics and bookmarks below: 

🔸 Global geopolitical conditions are becoming more volatile - why does this matter (1:07)  

🔸 What can risk managers do about Geopolitical events (4:56)  

🔸 What are the common challenges financial firms face (8:47)  

🔸 What can risk leaders do to improve the way they anticipate these risks (11:04)  

🔸 Do you feel risk leaders are well placed to respond (15:02)  

🔸 What advice would you give to leaders who don’t wish to have a geopolitical risk specialist in their team (17:11)   

Linkedin profiles: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-leatherdale-339a0b167/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardjamesrisk/

The life of a fintech CRO – do you work in fintech or have you wondered what it would be like to work for a firm in this sector?   

Lewis Cox, CRO of Breaking Wave – a fintech inside of Deutsche Bank - shared his thoughts including impressive career growth (making it to CRO within 10 years) and we discussed how the challenges and benefits of working as a risk leader in a naturally innovative environment. Some great insights here.   

Bookmarks as follows:   

🔸 How did breaking wave come to form, and how does the risk function play a part in this story (0:59) 

🔸 What are the challenges and learnings of being CRO of a company naturally focused on innovation (4:16) 

🔸 What could risk functions learn from your experience within a fintech environment (6:17) 

🔸 Discussing productivity, efficiency, and speed of process (9:52) 

🔸 You made it to CRO within 10 years – how did you do this and what advice would you have for others (12:03) 

🔸 How have you seen fintech and traditional banking worlds combine (16:21) 

🔸 Is the role of CRO evolving (19:02)

I was delighted to have been joined by three Chief Risk Officers for this week’s Risk Talks episode in collaboration with Risk Awareness Week 2020.  Demetria O'Sullivan (ex ICE, NYSE Euronext, Citi, JP Morgan), Alex Hindson (Argo Group and ex Amlin & Aon Global Risk Consulting) and Mehtap Numanoglu Tasiopoulos (Brown Brothers Harriman Luxembourg) discussed "the route to CRO", and shared advice for anyone looking to progress their careers within risk.   

The bookmarks and topics discussed were as follows: 

🔸 An introduction – Your background and how you became a CRO (1:50) 

🔸 What skills do you think are needed to become a CRO (9:26) 

🔸 What advice would you give to others looking to follow in your footsteps (14:31) 

🔸 How do you feel the role of CRO will change over the next 10-20 years (21:17) 

🔸 What do you enjoy most about being a CRO (28:19)  

🔸 What one thing would you want to share with others from what we’ve discussed today (31:43)  

I feel there were many valuable topics touched on and am grateful to all 3 for sharing their time and thoughts.

I enjoyed an engaging discussion with Dr Ariane Chapelle on quantifying rare events. Ariane is an author, lecturer, and award winning consultant - I felt it would be helpful to share our interesting discussion focused on operational risk / risk events, and quantification within this field.  

Bookmarks and topics discussed are as follows: 

🔶 Can firms reliably quantify rare events (1:20)

🔶 How is risk quantification evolving, particularly for non - financial risks; and how does this tie into ICAAP (3:18) 

🔶 Is there an evolution in the way firms look at scenarios and emerging risks (5:20) 

🔶 Do you think there could be some form of replication for AMA (7:05)  

🔶 Talent Risk - Where are the biggest gaps in training and skills within risk? (9:04)

I was delighted to have been joined by Francesca Fraulo for a discussion on the evolution of ESG investments from a credit and ratings perspective.  It was an enjoyable conversation with Francesca, who has a background as a Director at Fitch Ratings, an MD for CRIF Ratings and is a Founding Partner at SustainAdvisory. I hope you enjoy what she had to share. Bookmarks and questions are as follows if you prefer to focus on a specific topic:  

🔸 How has the increase in ESG investments impacted the rating agency industry? 0:44

🔸 How are Credit Rating Agencies coping with the new ESG market paradigm? 3:12

🔸 How are investors upgrading their analytical skill set to cope with ESG investment challenges? 5:53  

🔸 Will Credit Rating Agencies replace the offering of Sustainability Rating Agencies [or ESG providers]? 7:52

🔸 How are policies and regulations evolving and how will the rating industry be affected? 10:53

🔸 What other trends have triggered the current interest in sustainable investments? And what implications do you see for the financial services industry? 13:49  

🔸 What are you doing at present 16:28

I was delighted to have been joined by Cosimo Pacciani, the ex CRO of the European Stability Mechanism, to discuss the lessons learnt from the pandemic and the future role of risk management. Cosimo shared many interesting thoughts and opinions which may be of interest to you.  

We discussed: 

🔸 Where we are now and the reaction to date from a financial perspective (1:12) 

🔸 The speed of change (7:15) 

🔸 Will risk management have a wider role (11:09) 

🔸 What will be the focus areas for risk management in a post-pandemic world (14:56) 

🔸 What are your major concerns for the next phase (18:45) 

🔸 Trade-offs between health vs the economy (21:25) 

🔸 Should governments have a CRO (24:30) 

🔸 Is there a change in skill sets required within risk (26:28)

In today’s episode of Risk Talks I was joined by Ruth Doubleday, the Chief Risk Officer of Aspinall Financial Services, ex CRO of Monzo Bank and she has previously worked for the FCA. Ruth and I discussed an important topic - the benefits of having a diverse workforce - and approaching this discussion with a risk focused mindset.