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Enterprise risk management maturing: Survey

Posted On: Jan. 13, 2010 12:00 AM CST

An increasing number of companies are moving beyond basic enterprise risk management practices, an Aon Corp. survey released Wednesday concludes.

The survey, conducted by Aon’s global enterprise risk management practice, found that 62% of the survey respondents in the Global Enterprise Risk Management Survey 2010 reported going beyond basic ERM, compared with only 38% in Aon’s inaugural ERM survey in 2007.

“Respondents indicate that the primary drivers for investment in ERM are improving governance and transparency, adopting best practices, and improving performance and decisionmaking,” Aon said in a statement. “The number of organizations seeking improved performance and decisionmaking with ERM has risen dramatically since the 2007 survey.”

Aon said 55% of the respondents—which an Aon spokeswoman said included clients and nonclients—described themselves as being at the “defined” or “operational” level of ERM, “meaning that they have policies and techniques in place to identify, measure, monitor and manage some risk components; this represents a healthy 20-point increase over the 2007 level.

“The number of respondents who have matured to the ‘advanced level’ since 2007 has more than doubled from 3% to 7%, and respondents in this stage of maturity report they now have dynamic ERM processes that allow adaptation to changing risks and opportunities,” Aon said in the survey.

Aon uses a five-stage ERM maturity model to evaluate such programs, ranging from “initial/lacking” through “basic,” “defined,” “operational” and “advanced.”

The advanced ERM level is marked by a “well-developed ability to identify, measure, manage and monitor risks across the organization; process is dynamic and able to adapt to changing risks and varying business cycles; (and) explicit consideration of risk and risk management,” according to Aon.

The international survey, which had 201 responses and was conducted in July and August 2009, is available at www.aon.com.