Risk management salaries are higher “across the board,” but jobsecurity in this troubled economy depends on several factors,including just how far risk managers have come in proving theirworth, a board member of the Risk and Insurance Management Societywarned.

The highest-paid risk management position, at nearly a quarterof a million dollars, is chief risk officer/vice president-riskmanagement, according to the “2008 Risk Management CompensationSurvey,” put together by the New York-based RIMS.

CROs are averaging a salary of $170,683 and total compensationof $220,233, while risk analysts are on the lower end of theprofession's totem pole, averaging $51,852, with total compensationof $54,485.

“The [higher salary] trend is definitely up across the board,”said Michael McDonald, board liaison for membership and chapterservices at RIMS, which did not provide pay-scale growth figuresfor its proprietary survey. “One would hope we are making a biggerimpact with the C-suite and they are understanding better what wedo.”

Mr. McDonald, vice president of risk management at QualityDistribution Inc.–a trucking company and the largest hauler of bulkmaterials in North America–said the current economic crisis is“going to be here for a while, and I don't think a bailout willturn things around quickly.”

While the slowing economy's impact on the job market is likelyto be negative, he said risk managers can do much to add value totheir positions and thus insulate themselves from layoff oroutsourcing temptations. “I would tend to think that the more we asrisk managers do to make the companies understand the criticalnature of our function, the greater our opportunity to be retainedwhen the company is downsizing,” he said.

Mr. McDonald has personal experience with downsizing, given thathis Tampa, Fla.-based employer laid off 17 percent of its workforce earlier this year. “I picked up some new responsibilities andI've asked for new responsibilities, and I hope that's what otherrisk managers are doing,” he said.

He added he believes that in general, risk managers will comethrough “better than a lot of positions,” but that “we have to cutback like everyone else.”

Mr. McDonald noted that risk managers are branching out fromtraditional risk management responsibilities–”and that's why you'reseeing more CROs and more enterprise risk managers and even morevice presidents,” he observed.

Risk managers in the Northeast were paid the highest, with anaverage salary of $151,200, while the lowest-paid region was theSoutheast, at $103,500, the survey found. Second-highest were riskmanagers in the West, whose salaries averaged $130,300.

The 2008 survey presents compensation data for 11 differentjobs, categorized by company size (based on full-time employees andannual revenues), risk management department size, industry andgeographic location. This year, for the first time, information onchief risk officers as well as other senior-level risk managementpositions was included.

The results reflect data submitted by individual risk managementprofessionals working in more than 1,490 organizations in theUnited States and over 171 organizations in Canada, RIMS said.

In total, 2,180 surveys were completed online by RIMS membersbetween May 5 and June 30, 2008. This survey is the fifth in anannual series conducted by RIMS.

Survey data was compiled by enetrix, a provider of online surveyservices and e-commerce solutions to associations.

The length of time in the risk management field, however, forthe most part correlated with salaries. For example, on average,CROs were in risk management for 18.8 years, while claims analysts,at the bottom end of the pay scale, had spent an average 7.9 yearsin the industry.

Approximately 58 percent of the U.S. respondents work inorganizations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Abouthalf work in publicly owned organizations (49.9 percent), withnearly one-third (31.9 percent) working for private employers, thepoll found.

A majority of the U.S. respondents were insurance and riskmanagement directors (772), insurance management managers (363),and chief risk officers or vice presidents-risk management(176).