As technology and enterprise continues to grow, so to do the amount of variables contained therein. Rather than dangerously forging ahead on the principle of trial and error, individuals in the fields of public health & safety, project management, security, engineering and industry began to form risk management groups as far back as 1915. Risk Management is the practice of identifying, assessing and prioritising the inherent risks involved in financial markets, large-scale projects, legal liabilities, credit risks, accidents and natural causes. Organised below is an overview of seven of the most prominent risk management associations in the world today.
RMA
The Risk Management Association is a group focused strongly on the advancement of sound risk principles in the financial services industry. Founded in America, 1914, RMA was originally The Robert Morris Association until an official change on July 11, 2000. Its memberships includes approximately 2,500 institutional members and 16,000 RMA associates, covering vocations from credit to relationship managers. Among their publications is the award-winning RMA Journal and a variety of on-site newsletters, books and statistics. Additionally, they offer workshops, seminars and a yearly annual risk management conference for members.
http://www.rmahq.org/
FERMA
The Federation of European Risk Management Associations focuses their business on the enhancement of effective risk financing and insurance. Their website is robust, offering extensive publications and services to educate current or prospective members. Among these publications are the FERMA Corporate Brochure, biannual benchmarking surveys, a downloadable two-part guide, newsletters, guides and a large media page.
FERMA's ranks include over 20 business members and 4200 individual members. FERMA president Jorge Luzzi won risk management personality of the year in 2011, and one year later Secretary General Pierre Sonigo received a Strategic Risk Award for his outstanding contributions.
http://www.ferma.eu/
IRM
The Institute of Risk Management was founded April 1986 and today is comprised of more than 4,500 risk professionals from over 100 countries. IRM has three principal board committees: The Nominations Committee, who's purpose is to ensure a formal and transparent process for selecting board members and committee chairs. The Audit & Risk Commitee, who's purpose is to assist the board in fulfilling its corporate governance duties. Lastly the Remuneration Committee, which ensures a transparent procedure for the appraisal of the executive and chief executive staff. IRM publishes several informative articles on their website, outlining specific aspects of risk management such as "Risk Perception: It's personal", "Drawing a line under the 3 lines of Defence in Banking", among others.
Being a member of IRM grants global recognition, transferable qualifications and a large knowledge base to draw from. They offer recognition to prior learnings, allowing previously completed qualifications from other educational bodies to be honored and carried over.
http://www.theirm.org/
Airmic
The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce was established in 1963. It exists to promote the interests of corporate insurance buyers and those involved in Enterprise Risk Management, and to encourage the best practice. AIRMIC has an approximate membership of 1200. 51% of this figure represent Corporate memberships while 32% represents individual memberships.
AIRMIC has several outstanding members and awards. Alan Fleming, chairman of AIRMIC's Captives special interest group received an award for his "outstanding contribution to the captive insurance industry." In January 2002, AIRMIC member Ray Mattholie was awarded European Risk Manager of the year.
Among AIRMIC's resources and publications are the Technical Agenda Manual, the Jackson Reforms Resource, the Terrorism & Political Violence resource, Law Commission and Insurance Law Review Resource and the Ukraine Unrest resource. Additionally, the "AIRMIC Academy" offers over 50 in-depth workshops, available free of charge to members.
http://www.airmic.com/
ALARM
Alarm, the Public Risk Management Association, is the only membership organisation exclusively for professionals. Membership count is not listed on the main site or resource sites, however they seem to be in campaign mode to grow the numbers of their individual sectors(charities, education, fire, insurance, social housing, police.)
Their website offers a job board, an education page with downloadable PDFs, and publications such as the 'Public RM', Alarms quarterly journal. Alarm CIPFA Risk Management Benchmarking, launched in 2010, has become one the most promoted tools for public service risk managers to measure performance in their organisation. In 2011, CIPFA benchmarking won Risk Management product of the year.
http://www.alarm-uk.org/
GARP
Founded in 1996, The Global Association of Risk Professionals is a not-for-profit organization and the only globally recognized membership association for risk managers. Their focus is on the areas of financial and energy risk management, setting the standard with the FRM (Financial Risk Manager) and ERP (Energy Risk Professional) certifications. GARP contains over 150,000 members from 195 countries and territories. Members are employed by commercial banks, central banks, investment banks, asset management firms, corporations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Over 28,000 Certified FRMs worldwide.
GARP's website is extensive with publications, resources and guides. Their 'Risk news & Resources' section contains dozens of pages and articles spanning numerous topics. GARP offers four educational certificate programs: Market, Credit, Integrated and Operational risk management, with textbooks available for each. Lastly, their website lists career openings and hosts an events section with tracks company activity and news articles.
http://www.garp.org/
RIMS
Founded in 1950, the Risk and Insurance Management Society has grown to a membership of approximately 11,000. Their website offers publications such as the Risk Management Magazine and RiskWire daily news service. Additionally, they offer workshops, webinars and online courses for new and existing members. Members gain access to a suite of resources for risk professionals such as 'Risk Knowledge', a searchable library of resources. Visiting the RIMStore offers risk-related publications, guides and merchandise. The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center has resources to enhance your ERM program. The RIMS Career Center includes strategies and tips as well as a complete Job Bank, professional growth model and student resource center. Lastly, the RIMS Benchmark Survey provides data on insurance acquisition within 14 major industry groups, as well as documenting significant trends affecting risk management.
In 2011, RIMS in association with AIG formed The Risk Management Hall of Fame to preserve the history and tradition of the profession.
https://www.rims.org
