What Are You Worth?
It isnt easy being a risk manager. Rarely (if ever) does anyone call up to tell them they did a fabulous job that dayThat no one was injured on the job.none of the company's products harmed anyoneno one filed an employment practices lawsuitno factories burned down.
Yes, a risk manager's job is often a thankless one. The only time they are sure to stand out is during a crisiswhen a loss is reporteda property is damaged or stolensomeone sues. Everyone wants to know, are we covered?
Actually, most risk managers probably wouldn't mind flying under the radar these days. During the soft market, they were eager to strut before their corporate boards, feeling giddy as they reported ever-falling premiums for expanding coverage.
During the hard market, it's been another story. In a tight economy, with everyone pressed to cut costs, soaring insurance premiums stick out like a pile of dirt hidden under a throw rug. Loss control is a priority once again as companies assume more risk to keep the lid on insurance bills. Captives and other self-insurance vehicles are being formed to pick up the slack. That means more responsibility and a higher profilefor better or worsefor the risk manager.
Still, their hard work appears to be paying off, according to the "2003 Risk Management Compensation Survey," conducted by Logic Associates and co-sponsored by National Underwriter. Indeed, while the average risk manager salary among the 1,580 surveyed nationwide rose a respectable 5.9 percent to $154,100 last year, those in some company-size categories did substantially better than that.
In addition, master recruiter Bill Perry, president of Logic Associates, noted that despite the rough and tumble insurance market and shaky economy, risk manager turnoverparticularly at upper-level firmsis relatively low. He confided that he is surprised not to hear from more employers looking to "upgrade" their risk management talent.
Why aren't they? Well, he explained, most companies appear to be fairly satisfied with the risk management staff they have on hand. That's good news, especially because there don't appear to be an overflow of job openings right now.
Last year, copies of this edition flew out of our booth at the Risk and Insurance Management Society's annual conference. I suspect this year will be no different, even though we're shipping twice as many issues. After all, the most coveted piece of information at the workplace is the salary of your peers.
The Logic survey gives risk managers the ammunition they need to fight for what they are worth in the market. The benchmarks provided are invaluable. It is NU's pleasure and honor to give you an exclusive peek at the results for the second year in a row.
Starting on page 12, we lay out the average salary and cash bonuses for risk managers in eight categories, segmented by company sales volume. We also show the average perks offered by employers, as well as the level of education and training risk managers have achieved. We close with statistics on key management duties, including employee benefits, alternative risk-transfer facilities and security.
In future issues, we will examine compensation trends by industry and geographic area. It makes a big difference where you work, what industry you work in, and what size firm you work for in determining salary standards. Not all risk manager jobs are alike.
Let the salary negotiations begin! See you at RIMS, Booth 1421!
Sam Friedman
Editor-In-Chief
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 16, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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