General Sessions

Is ERM Still Relevant – a CRO Perspective

Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 8:10– 9:40 a.m.

Chief Risk Officers (CROs) have had numerous challenges during the past year. Among these have been the subprime lending problem, the California disaster, and the liquidity crisis that arose in commercial paper markets. Questions that may be considered in this roundtable include:

Have firms practicing enterprise risk management been more profitable or had fewer losses than their competitors? What evidence can be provided?
How have successful CROs made their voices heard when markets are profitable? Are technical or interpersonal challenges more formidable in your role as CRO?
How useful in practice has been the Basel focus on market, credit and operational risk? Have regulators made your risk management job easier or harder? Why?

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Moderator:

In the Pursuit of Return, Have We Lost Sight of Risk?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 2:15 – 3:45 p.m.

Interest rate and payment shocks to subprime mortgage holders, speculation in the energy markets or new entrants, a widening crisis in the Middle East, liquidity concerns, and a softening insurance market all had a significant impact on the markets in 2007. This session will focus on the general question: Are we learning from past mistakes or simply repeating them? Specific questions may include:

What are the emerging risks and policy questions that will confront managers and directors in 2008?
From your vantage point, what are lessens learned from recent market disruptions and how have ERM programs assisted firms in anticipating and coping with these stresses?
How should non-market problems, such as global warming, technological/cultural changes and political events factor into business strategy?
The soft insurance market of the late 1990s not only brought inadequate pricing, but also a wave of reserve increases. How will the insurance industry react this time around?
What threats to the economy are likely to shape firm profitability and risk appetites during 2008? Are we, for example, likely to see asset bubbles in new markets or recession in 2008?

Session speakers will highlight their market concerns for 2008 and assess how an effective ERM program will help firms address these concerns.

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Moderator:

View from the Top

Wednesday, April 16, 2008, 7:45 – 9:10 a.m.

This session offers a unique face-to-face discussion with the renowned directors of some of the most prominent corporations. This session is sure to be one of the symposium's highlights, as expert presenters discuss the role of the board and answer your questions.

As clearly established in regulatory and best-practice frameworks, directors have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that an effective ERM program is in place. What is their role in ERM? What are the expectations for the management? How can they set the tone from the top and provide meaningful oversight? Are their needs being served?

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Strategic Risk—Making Models Relevant in Executive Decisions

Wednesday, April 16, 2008, 1:50 – 3:15 p.m.

As more and more firms are developing enterprise risk models to facilitate implementation of ERM, the relevance and effectiveness of the risk models have come under scrutiny. It has become even more critical for the risk models to incorporate strategic risks and to facilitate communications with senior management. Speakers, using real-life examples to make their points, will discuss:

Identification of key risk drivers, information content in the data, and choices of the level of complexity of the risk models;
Use of correlation studies in identifying emerging market problems and in modeling market turning points; and
Use of risk model results to facilitate discussions with senior management and board directors.

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