The risk management discipline is more developed than in the past and risk managers are well-positioned to tackle the changing risks of their organizations, says Peter F. Garvey, co-founder, president and CEO of insurance brokerage Integro Ltd. in New York. In a recent interview with Business Insurance Associate Editor Mike Tsikoudakis. Edited excerpts follow.

Q: What are the top three risks facing risk managers today?

A: The ones that are the most topical right now are obviously terrorism, especially what the government is going to do at the end of next year; cyber; and I'd probably have to say the last one is weather-related risks, just because it certainly seems ... it's more volatile than it's been in quite some time.

Q: How are risk managers poised to address such risks?

A: As a group, the discipline is much more highly developed than it had been in the past. The focus on enterprise risk has gotten much more granular. The professional nature of the position continues to increase. I'd say they're better prepared than ever as a group.

Q: With an improving economy, what sort of risks accompany growth and what should risk managers keep their eye on?

A: If there is in fact an improving economy, they're going to have to switch gears. For most commercial enterprises, they've been kind of locked in an extended period of flat to negative growth in their businesses. They're now going to have to shift gears to (determine) is there enough capacity, are they in expansion, are they getting into new areas or new risks than before?

Q: What's your assessment of the commercial property/casualty market, and where do you see it going throughout 2013 and into 2014?

A: I'm skeptical of the claims of a hardening market. It just seems like the fundamentals of excess capacity are still there. What's changed over the last 10 years or so and (is) increasing is the advent of sidecars. As there is any sort of reduction in capacity, sidecars provide an immediate increase in a pretty efficient way. So, other than specific jurisdictions in specific lines, like for instance California workers comp or wind-exposed coastal high-value properties, I just don't think there's anything fundamental that is going to move the market. I think it's very much like the economy. If there is growth it's at a glacial pace, and I think for us and my colleagues in the industry it's business as usual. It's more of the same.

Q: What's the focus for Integro moving forward in 2013? Where do you see business growth?

A: We view ourselves as a multispecialty broker, so we think we can successfully compete in certain client industries with anybody. Our model is definitely something that clients are interested in. With the overconsolidation of the brokerage industry, it seems to be all about them. Clients still want expertise. They want good advice. They still value the individual broker rather than the institution that those brokers work within.

Our model is about attracting quality individuals who are organized on a client industry specialty basis, and we're thrilled with the response of the client community. We'll continue to grow specialty by specialty. The ones that we already have achieved recognition in will look to bring in more people and expand the territory that we serve within those specialties and then as we can attract the right people, we'll add new specialties to our capabilities.

We've made a number of acquisitions, but I would call ... the level of acquisitions modest. That's because our belief is that clients benefit from a singular culture, highly collaborative culture across the organization. And it's hard to maintain a singular culture if you're buying other businesses. They may have fine cultures in their own right but ... it's hard to assimilate. So our view is organic growth builds a better firm for the long term.