New RIMS President: A Change Of Pace

Chambers brings different perspective as Canadian,public risk manager

With a growing recognition worldwide of the role good riskmanagement plays in business, its only fitting that the Risk andInsurance Management Societys new president is from Canada, thelargest RIMS constituency outside of the United Statesmaking upabout 8 percent of membership.

“In Canada, risk management is becoming more prevalent and itsevolving,” said Nancy L. Chambers, who will be named RIMSpresident, 2004-2005, this week in San Diego, Calif., during theNew York-based associations annual conference.

Interest in risk management is steadily on the rise in Canada,where “we are faced with the same types of issues [as the U.S.],”she noted. “The results may be a little different and we may befollowing the U.S. on the litigation side by a number of years, butI think were still looking at some of the same issues.”

Ms. Chambers is risk manager for the Waterloo RegionMunicipalities Insurance Pool in Kitchener, Ontario. She andanother risk manager set up the pool in 1998 as a response torising insurance costs. They now manage the pool with a staff ofthree.

The pool includes eight municipalities in the region ofWaterloo, which together manage a large retention, or deductible of$500,000, she explained. The pool is not separately incorporatedand is not licensed to write insurance. It was set up with afronting company and goes directly to reinsurers to cover lossesbeyond its self-insured retention, she said.

Ms. Chambers added that the pool “saved $3.2 million in thefirst three years of operation, and we were able to give back amillion [dollars] to our municipalities after the first threeyears, plus reduce their levy into the pool.”

The pool covers “everything,” she said. “Transit, policeservices, fire departments, gas utility, municipalliabilityeverything except workers comp.”

Like other risk managers, the biggest challenge she currentlyfaces is renewalswhich are coming up after a three-year term. “Werenewed prior to Sept. 11, 2001, so well be facing the increases wemissed during that time,” she said. But the good news is that “westill have $2.8 million in our reserves.”

Similarly to the United States, she said Canada is affected byglobal market forces such as reinsurance availability andaffordability. “Anything that would affect the markets in the U.S.also would affect us in Canada,” she said. “Any natural disaster,the power failure or the blackout [of last summer]it affected us inCanada just like in the U.S.” Also included would be the stockmarket decline and terrorism. “Terror will always be on the radarscreen,” she said.

Risk managers in Canada are faced with many of the samechallenges as other risk managers “in this ever-changing world inwhich we live,” she said. “We also, like other risk managers, havebeen able to respond to those challenges.”

Ms. Chambers told National Underwriter she is excitedabout her new RIMS position because “weve had a good, solidfoundation with the previous leadership in RIMS.”

As an organization, she said RIMS has been through many changesthat have left it stronger. RIMS's financials, she noted, are“probably in the best shape they have been in, and that also has todo with the stock market and investments. We have also done someamazing things with our Web site.”

RIMS will continue its efforts to build relationships with riskmanagement associations worldwide, she said, which includesannouncement of a new international chapter and a focus onlegislative issues in the United States and Canada.

“Our RIMS-Canada Council started meeting with representatives inOttawa to try and promote the risk managers [profile] in Canada aswell,” she said.

She added that RIMS is working closely with the brokerage andunderwriting communities to clarify the needs of its members.

“RIMS is really the voice of the risk manager and will continueto be the voice,” she said. “Well be working to support ourmembership and our chapters. Our members are the owners of RIMS,and we owe our success to the expertise and commitment of ourmembers on committees and task forces and leadership.”

Also of note, she said, is the upcoming 25th anniversary of theSpencer Education Foundation and the 55th anniversary of RIMS thatwill be celebrated at the RIMS 2005 Conference in Philadelphia.

Lance Ewing, 2003-2004 outgoing president, stressed thatCanadians have always been an integral part of the RIMS makeup. Heexplained that many Canadian companies have operations in theUnited States and likewise, with many U.S. companies operatingsubsidiaries in Canada.

He added that the RIMS Canadian conference draws severalthousand risk managers every year. “We even translate the RIMSmagazine into French, so our Montreal constituents can read it,” hesaid.

Mr. Ewing, who is vice president of risk management at CaesarsEntertainment Inc. in Las Vegas, observed that Ms. Chambers isqualified in many ways and an ideal choice to carry on the corecompentencies of RIMS.

“Nancy has a different style than I do, which is always positivefrom a management standpoint,” he said. “She tries to buildconsensus in decision making, which is always welcome.”

Ms. Chambers, he said, “has been on the executive council andhas been our vice president of finance and the treasurer for twoyears, so the financial stability that she brings to the table ishelpful. She has worked on the conference and in education.”

Another positive, he explained, is that Ms. Chambers has agreedto focus on the “four competencies” emphasized by RIMSconcentratedin the areas of technology, membership, education and professionaldevelopment, and the annual conference.

“Those are some of the driving engines within what RIMS does,”he said. “Those are going to be the foundational blocks with whichshe will continue to grow those four areas. So there will becontinuity in regards to the focus.”

The four competencies, he said, “are the heart of RIMS.”

What Does It Take To Be A RIMS President?

By Caroline McDonald

Presidents for the Risk and Insurance Management Society arechosen annually by a nominating committee, explained Lance Ewing,2003-2004 outgoing president for the New York-based association ofcommercial insurance buyers.

“That committee has to cull the information to find the rightperson for leadership for the organization,” said Mr. Ewing, who isvice president of risk management at Caesars Entertainment Inc. inLas Vegas. “So it isnt drawing straws.”

This process, he noted, lends itself to “very positive,independent candidates,” rather than “the old boys or old girlsnetwork.”

Mr. Ewing said that RIMS looks for candidates who are wellrounded, “with the financial acumen in order to drive theorganization.”

He noted that the amount of time involved is no small matter.“Bear in mind, this is a volunteer agency,” he said. “You need anextremely understanding employer, because out of a seven-day workweek, you are going to spend an inordinate amount of time on RIMSrelationships and business.”

Finding a candidate for president “who has that type of employersupport can be difficult,” he said. “From a travel standpoint, youare out of the country, going to other RIMS chapters and youregoing to the conferences.”

RIMS presidents must participate in budget meetings and monthlyconference calls that can last two and three hours at time, headded.

Ewing Leaves RIMS Post Batting .800

Outgoing president cites enhanced Web site, membershipexpansion

By Caroline McDonald

Lance Ewing, 2003-2004 outgoing president for the Risk andInsurance Management Society, is proud of his accomplishments overthe past year. “I think I have about an 80 percent batting averageso far,” he said.

In the area of technology, “weve done a great job with ouroutreach,” he noted. Included are changes to the RIMS Web site,which was given a “fresh coat of paint,” making it easier formembers and outsiders to navigate.

RIMS enhanced online information, including a job bank, which isavailable to members. “We have over 45 e-groups as well,” he added,in industries such as restaurants, construction, oil and gas.Members are able to post questions and get information fromindustry peers about policies and procedures.

“We get over 200,000 hits a day on the RIMS Web site,” noted Mr.Ewing, who is vice president of risk management at CaesarsEntertainment Inc. in Las Vegas.

In the area of membership, he said, “Im leaving office with thestrongest numbers and volume” the association has ever enjoyed.RIMS membership has grown from 8,121 in March 2002 to 8,508 lastyear, to 8,804 in March 2004.

“Weve seen huge growth in the area of associatemembersnon-traditional risk management people. Within our owntraditional risk management professionals weve seen an increase, aswell,” he said.

Mr. Ewing attributed the jump in membership to RIMS “becomingmore of a resource to organizations that havent tapped usbefore.”

Before five years ago, the term risk management, “got verylittle play in the press except in our own industry,” he said. “Nowits on the lips of almost every chief executive officer and chieffinancial officer, including those heading off in handcuffstheywish they had done some risk management.”

He observed that one area in which he is disappointed iseducation and professional development. “We have not grown our RIMSFellow program as quickly as I would have liked to have seen, but Ithink we are forging ahead in the right direction,” he said.

RIMS is committed, through education and workshops, to bringingrisk management to corporations that may not yet have a full graspof what the discipline is, he explained. “We will actually send ina professional who will do Risk Management 101, 201 or 301 forcorporations.”

The fourth area is the RIMS annual conference. “Our conferenceremains the world-class premiere centerpiece for the insurance andrisk management communities,” he said. “Its difficult to findbetween 10,000 and 12,000 insurance and risk managementprofessionals in one location. The conference in Chicago last yearhad between 9,000 and 10,000 attendees.”

Financially, he said, “we are in the best financial shape, froma budget as well as from an investment income standpoint, that wevebeen in, in a very long time.”

Last but not least, RIMS's international outreach programs haveshown growth, he noted.

“RIMS is not looking to stick flags in countries and claim themas our own,” he said. “Risk management professionals from certaincountries come to us asking us to provide them with an opportunityto tap resources.”

Some of these countriessuch as Japanform chapters. “Our Japanchapter does a fantastic job,” he said. “Weve also had inquiriesfrom Russia, Indonesia, India and Brazil.”

Mr. Ewing added that he recently conducted a Risk Management 101training program in Kosovo for their insurance industry, “which ismade up of eight carriers who mostly write car insurance.”

RIMS's sister organizations “are mirror images of RIMS, just ona smaller level,” he saidfor example, there is the Federation ofEuropean Risk Management Associations, and in the United Kingdom,the U.K. Risk Management Association.

“We go to their conferences and speak and work with theInternational Federation of Risk and Insurance ManagementAssociations. So we continue to act as a resource internationally,”he explained.

All-in-all, he summarized, “weve weathered storms and done manypositive thingsweve streamlined our budget process and looked atvalue to our members. Weve done some hard things, but weve plantedsome positive seeds for the growth forward.”

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 16, 2004.Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serialpublication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as anindependent work may be held by the author.