Using data wisely key to unlocking future risks

VENICE, Italy — Risk managers and their insurers can learn from each other to address the growing complexities of a riskier world, according to Mario Greco, group CEO of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A.

Addressing delegates at the Federation of European Risk Management Associations' 2015 Risk Management forum in Venice, Italy, Monday, Mr. Greco said that companies need to be agile and audacious to meet the risks and opportunities posed by a rapidly changing world.

He said that while data are key to understanding risks, risk managers need to be able to separate what is important from “noise.”

“More information does not necessarily mean we are better informed,” he said.

Data should be used to try to anticipate and manage future risks, not just to explain past behaviors, he said.

The speed at which risks are emerging means that “agility is a fundamental skill for managing risk,” he said, adding that risk managers need to be prepared to “live with the unexpected” and enable their companies to respond in an agile way to new risks by having an integrated approach to risk management.