This paper reflects on the definition of risk culture and its importance for insurance companies, based on results from a survey among the members of the CRO Forum and CRO Council in February and March 2014. It provides examples of good practice on how cultural change can be driven and what the insurance industry can learn from other industries. It gives an overview of how this seemingly abstract concept can be made more tangible with the identification of essential components of a sound risk culture and how these components can be managed. To make sure that a sound risk culture is not only practiced by risk specialists within an organisation, the paper also looks at ways to make the concept comprehensible for all employees.

 

The CRO Forum is a group of professional risk managers from the (re)insurance industry that focuses on developing and promoting industry best practices in risk management. The Forum consists of Chief Risk Officers from large multinational insurance and reinsurance companies. It aims to represent the members' views on key risk management topics, including emerging risks.