Presentations / Articles
Downloadable Presentations & Articles
Understanding, Assessing and Managing Risk Tolerance
Many companies struggle with the concept of risk tolerance: its deep and broad application in strategy development and execution in general, and in particular its impact on decision making. For many, this is an amorphous concept that is difficult to accurately frame and manage. Quite a few companies have addressed this important concept and developed statements describing their tolerance for risk that initially sound logical, but upon further examination are arbitrary and possibly irrelevant. This article explores in depth how much risk and its adverse impacts a company can tolerate before it determines that changes (possibly profound) need to be made.
» Download Article (PDF, 280K)
Pragmatic Risk Management - Addressing An Insurer's Most Critical Risks To Support Strategic Success
An insurance company, any company, cannot go wrong by adopting a focused, pragmatic approach to Enterprise Risk Management. This article presents a fresh, targeted look at how any insurance company, regardless of its size or business concentration, can develop an Enterprise Risk Management process that significantly increases its chances of executing its strategy successfully.
» Download Presentation (Powerpoint, 198K) | Download Article (PDF, 1.6MB)
Risk Management for Small to Mid-sized Companies
Small to Mid-sized Companies cannot dedicate the resources to the critical endeavor of risk management that their large company brethren can. Nonetheless, these companies can manage their risk profiles very effectively if they focus on their most critical exposures and integrate risk awareness into their decision making.
» Download Presentation (Powerpoint, 198K)
Setting Risk Impact Thresholds Tips ERM Scale Toward Survival
(National Underwriter’s Property and Casualty edition)
Many companies across the spectrum of industries do not have a reliable, accurate process for measuring the amount of risk impact they are exposed to in the course of running their businesses. As a result, a number of these companies are pursuing strategies and/or managing operations with inherent risks that can literally bring them to their knees. The events of the past two years vividly underscore this vulnerability.
Why the Valuation of RMBS Holdings Needed Changing
In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, risk charges to insurers for various asset classes were substantially increased in the rating agencies' capital models. The NAIC was very concerned by this dramatic increase in insurers' required capital requirements, and the serious implication that insurers were undercapitalized, and sought another methodology to evaluate their asset holdings and the risk capital needed to support them. PIMCO was engaged to evaluate insurers' RMBS holdings as the NAIC's first step to intensively study this matter.
» Download Article (PDF, 60K)
Enterprise Risk Management and its Role in Implementing a Winning Acquisition Strategy
The track record of acquisition strategies in the insurance industry has been mixed (at best) over time. A thorough approach to applying enterprise risk management principles can significantly increase the likelihood of success in this complicated endeavor.
» Download Article (PDF, 61K)
The State of Publicly Traded Life Insurance Companies – 2009 Update
Publicly-traded life insurers are facing the most difficult marketplace conditions in their histories. What forces contributed to create this troublesome scenario? What must these companies do to recapture their historical successes? In this article, Cohen explores these vexing themes, and offers a number of strategies to enable these companies to prosper going forward.
» Download Article (PDF, 89K)
Risk Management For Insurers: Lessons Learned From The Crisis
Interactive Solutions’ Annual Risk Management Conference
Risk Management for Insurance Companies, September 16, 2009
There are many perspectives on what caused the financial crisis in which we are currently mired. Many questions are on everyone’s mind, among them: What happened? Did risk management efforts fail to prevent these considerable problems? What lessons have we learned about how to manage our insurance businesses more effectively? This presentation chronicles the chain of events contributing to the crisis, and suggests a number of lessons that might be learned to avoid such epic disasters in the future.
» Download Presentation (PowerPoint, 660K)
Integrating ERM into Strategic Planning
Enterprise Risk Management is not a stand-alone exercise within insurance management. Its value is optimized by integrating it into a company's strategic planning efforts. This presentation explores how intertwining ERM with strategic thinking enhances a company's decision making.
» Download Presentation (PowerPoint, 81K)
Dislocations
This economic and financial environment is one of the most difficult ever, and has caused enormous hardships for all. Cohen explores reasons for our current situation, provides historical perspectives and makes numerous suggestions as to how we can rebuild our economic and financial systems.
» Download Article (PDF, 111K)
Additional Presentations and Articles
To view a full list of presentations and articles developed by Michael A. Cohen, click below:
» Presentations (Speaking Engagements at Industry Conferences)
» Articles
