NU Online News Service, July 15, 2:40 p.m. EDT

When it comes to controlling their total cost of risk, 64 percent of corporate risk and finance managers surveyed said their top concern was their retained cost of claims, including from captives, according to professional services company Towers Watson.

The survey, "Risk and Finance Manager Survey: Snapshot of an Industry Poised for Change," found that an additional 23 percent of respondents rated retained cost of claims as their second concern.

Premium costs ranked as the top concern for 24 percent of respondents and second for 49 percent.

Frictional collateral and capital costs were the principal concerns of only 10 percent of respondents, the survey found.

"The impact of several external forces, most notably cost pressures, are dictating how companies do business, and this has manifested itself into a new set of required competencies," Steve Levene, leader of Towers Watson's insurance brokerage business said in a statement. "Decisions about how to meet the claim department's most critical objectives must begin by assessing how well prepared the organization is to accomplish its most vital claim functions."

The survey of 244 risk managers also found that while the use of enterprise risk management is increasing, nearly half of companies lack an ERM process.

Fifty-five percent of risk and finance managers, however said their company has a true ERM process in place. Prior surveys have indicated this percentage was as low as 11 percent in 2000 and 37 percent in 2005.

Of the companies having established ERM capabilities, 71 percent said they have identified and prioritized key risk and have assigned risk owners.

Of the 45 percent of companies not currently employing ERM, 37 percent said there has been no articulation of the value of implementing ERM, while 27 percent noted that ERM was too resource-intense and expensive to pursue, regardless of cost.

Barry Franklin a director in Towers Watson's corporate risk management practice, said, "Even among companies that have implemented ERM, many don't address hard-to-quantify risks because they simply lack the metrics to understand their potential impact. ERM is ultimately about better management of all capital--physical, financial and human."

The Web-based survey was conducted in April and May 2010. Participating companies were from a variety of industries, with 69 percent having revenues of at least $1 billion.

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Cost Of Claims Top Concern For Risk Managers, Study Finds

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