Promoting resilience and advocating for senior risk managers is a key theme of Jennifer Santiago’s one-year presidency of Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. Ms. Santiago is Director of Risk Management and Safety at She Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative.She discussed RIMS’ support for the development of a federal cyber insurance backstop, based in Keesby, NJ, and how risk managers can navigate challenging market conditions. business insurance Deputy Editor-in-Chief Claire Wilkinson. An edited excerpt follows.
Q: How did you get into the industry?
A: When I left school, there weren’t many programs for risk management. I participated in an internship as a medical malpractice organization’s Chief Medical Officer and landed my first big job at his NYU Medical Center in New York. I joined at the entry level and within two years I was promoted to Director, managing the team, reporting to the CFO and being involved with the captive insurance company. I was very lucky to get that start and it led me down the risk management path.I attended his RIMS conference for the first time in 1999, with Colin Powell keynote was a speaker. And I remember thinking, wow, this is a pretty incredible organization. There were thousands of risk managers outside the auditorium waiting to join us, and that really got me going. It’s the community that I’ve always been involved with.
Q: He has held brokerage and risk management roles in a variety of industries. What effect did it have on you?
A: I love the pivots and challenges of learning new business models, learning key business risks, developing solutions, and change. That’s exactly the risk manager’s toolkit that goes with you. That’s what’s exciting for me and I’m constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone, always challenging and pushing. I worked as a broker for a while and risk management is really my sweet spot He spent much of his time in risk management and insurance, enterprise risk, ethics and compliance, and risk assessment at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, Ingersoll Rand, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and prior to Pennsylvania State I was the Chief Risk Officer at the university. my current role. So I’ve really diversified from an industry perspective and that’s what makes it interesting.
Q: What are your future goals for RIMS?
A: RIMS has a long history of success and great leaders and risk management professionals who have served society for decades. We have survived the pandemic, but the key word for me is resilience. The key to resilience is to be stronger and better on the other side and ready for the next challenge. My focus is on getting our communities back together — because COVID has changed the way people interact — and reconnecting and strengthening the communities we have. The pandemic has shone a light on risk management professionals. Everyone works in silos, and risk professionals know what’s going on across the organization, so it was only natural that they would be at the table quickly when the pandemic hit. There is momentum and you need to catch it and move forward. Also, in the role of chief risk officer, she has to step into her suite and advocate for risk experts to make sure they are joining the board and contributing their expertise. Another thread is She is a DEI, creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for people to thrive.
Q: RIMS advocates for a federal cyber backstop. Why do risk managers need government support for cyber coverage?
A: RIMS issued a comment letter to the Federal Insurance Administration last November. The dialogue is about creating a federal backstop to deal with large-scale cyber incidents. As risk managers, we know that when deploying cyber coverage, we see reduced coverage, capacity, and costs. This creates a very challenging environment for risk management professionals. There will be fewer markets open to cyber investment and more exclusions, as the press threatens to disappear. A kind of Swiss cheese policy. I think it’s a real legitimate fear. There are concerns that systemic cyber risk and a hit to infrastructure will trigger a massive shutdown. That’s an important part, but there are also everyday cyber risks that are eroding coverage. You need to determine if it is for some reason attached to TRIA or the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act or if it is completely separate. So there are many parts, but it makes sense because as more insurance companies pull back the reins, the need for a federal backstop becomes more important.
Q: What can risk managers do to achieve the best possible outcome in a challenging insurance market?
A: The last few years have been tough and I don’t think it gets any better. Certain insurances, such as cyber and property, will continue to be very challenging. It is therefore important to help the board understand the situation and understand risk appetite and tolerance at the organizational level. How much risk can you tolerate in-house? How much can you transfer? What would you like to pay for that risk transfer? There is a balancing act between holding and forwarding. The number of captives is increasing and people are looking for ways to self-insure. It’s actually his 3 C’s of coverage, capacity, and cost, and all three are challenged. There was a time when raising your deductible would lower your premiums and save you money on premiums, so it was a strategy. Even with a higher deductible, your premium will be 20%, 30%, 40% higher. What I hear as a risk manager in the insurance industry is that it is actually driven by reinsurers. So the ripple effect from the reinsurance market to the insurance market to risk managers.
