INTEGRATING RISK MANAGEMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Capital management and risk management are two sides of the same coin. But by treating them separately, the conventional theory and practice of corporate finance fails to account for important connections between them. Moreover, an exclusive focus on debt and equity ignores the full range of capital resources available to a corporation, thus distorting management's view of the firm's cost of capital (and its return on equity).
An understanding of the role of corporate capital–including off-balance sheet as well as paid-up capital—and its relationship to the riskiness of a firm's activities provides the foundation on which the author builds a corporate finance framework that ties together both the insurance and capital markets. This framework, called the "Insurative Model," captures the economics of both conventional insurance and corporate finance instruments and embraces a wide variety of solutions and instruments—be they debt, equity, insurance, derivative, contingent capital, or any other—and allows managers to evaluate their effectiveness in a consistent, unified way.
The Insurative Model demonstrates that a company's decisions on insurance and risk retention can be just as important as its decisions about its debt-equity mix. In fact, the determination of a firm's optimal debt-equity ratio should be the last in a series of capital and risk management decisions. Earlier decisions should address risk retention, risk transfer, and the optimal amounts and structure of off-balance-sheet capital used to support the company's retained risks.     

REAL OPTIONS AND CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT

By formulating an integrated strategy that combines the creation and exercise of real options together with other risk management techniques, management can reduce risk and thereby increase firm value. For example, a company that is in a position to delay investing without losing its competitive edge, to abandon a project that becomes unprofitable, or to adjust its operating strategy at low cost can avoid risks and exploit profitable opportunities. But, even when real options are used in this way to limit the risk profile of the firm, financial derivatives can help to hedge any residual risk that would otherwise affect the value of the real options and the overall firm.
An integrated risk management approach requires a careful process of diagnosing a company's risk exposure. First, management must decompose the company's risk exposure to understand the fundamental sources of risk. Second, the company's capacity to bear risk must be determined, which requires an understanding of why individual risks (if left unmanaged) would reduce the value of the firm. Third, different approaches for addressing risk should be explored, ranging from diversification to use of financial derivatives and other contracts to investing in (or exercising) a wide array of real options. Fourth, the firm must properly integrate the different risk management solutions to optimize its strategy.     

RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE FACULTY INTERNSHIPS

Abstract: The author examines the benefits of faculty internships including professional development and improved teaching skills. He also examines the ARIA internship program.     

LIABILITY RISK MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

Reputations travel fast and far. Poor corporate citizenship anywhere in the world is increasingly likely to be reported everywhere in the world. Human rights abuses and environmental accidents and pollution have put many well-known companies on the defensive, and once in the spotlight, all actions tend to be carefully scrutinized.
Corporations risk losses due to fines and lawsuits stemming from poor citizenship, but even more significant is the potential loss of reputation—a significant portion of most companies' value. A damaged corporate reputation can hurt sales and damage employee morale.
The ensuing financial losses expose executives and boards of directors to shareholder derivative lawsuits for not having policies in place to protect the corporation from such scandals. As providers of liability insurance, insurance companies have a direct interest in these losses.
Corporate adoption of effective environmental and social accountability program—which are likely to prevent scandals in the first place, will limit the liability of corporations and their officers if a scandal does occur.     

ISSUES IN INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

Abstract: The risk management and insurance discipline faces a number of challenges. The author poses some questions which focus on those challenges.     

MODELING IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE IN RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE

Abstract: The author examines the problems for risk managers associated with knowledge imperfections. He describes how fuzzy logic can be used to deal with situations when there is a lack of knowledge     

信用风险对冲技术与我国商业银行的信用风险管理

信用风险过渡集中一直是摆在银行业面前的一大挑战.过去银行主要是运用风险分散的手段来降低资产组合的风险集中度.然而,单一的风险分散手段会导致银行业务小型化、运作成本增加和破坏银行的客户网络等弊端.90年代以后发展起来的信用风险对冲思想使这个难题得到部分解决.本文首先介绍了信用风险对冲技术的几个基本理论问题;在此基础上,重点探讨了信用风险对冲技术在我国商业银行运用的现实性;最后得出结论认为,信用风险对冲技术是一种对宏观环境、金融机构素质、监管机构水平要求很高的风险管理手段,完善以上各方面是该项技术为我国商业银行利用的前提条件.     

风险管理整合

风险管理整合是当今国际银行业风险控制的大趋势 风险管理整合（Risk Convergence）也称风险集中控制，是指以整合的形式构造更加协调、有效、精简的风险控制结构，实现对各类风险的综合管理和专业化集中控制。从全球范围看，风险管理整合开始于上世纪90年代中后期。一方面，随着市场波动性增强，     

RETHINKING RISK MANAGEMENT

This paper presents a theory of corporate risk management that attempts to go beyond the "variance-minimization" model that dominates most academic discussions of the subject. It argues that the primary goal of risk management is not to dampen swings in corporate cash flows or value, but rather to provide protection against the possibility of costly lower-tail outcomes –situations that would cause financial distress or make a company unable to carry out its investment strategy. (In the jargon of finance specialists, risk management can be viewed as the purchase of well-out-of-the-money put options designed to limit downside risk.)
By eliminating downside risk and reducing the expected costs of financial trouble, risk management can also help a company to achieve both its optimal capital structure and its optimal ownership structure. For, besides increasing corporate debt capacity, the reduction of downside risk also encourages larger equity stakes for managers by shielding their investments from "uncontrollables."
The paper also departs from standard finance theory in suggesting that some companies may have a comparative advantage in bearing certain financial market risks–an advantage that derives from information acquired through their normal business activities. Although such specialized information may lead some companies to take speculative positions in commodities or currencies, it is more likely to encourage "selective" hedging, a practice in which the risk manager's "view" of future price movements influences the percentage of the exposure that is hedged.
But, to the extent that such view-taking becomes an accepted part of a company's risk management program, it is important to evaluate managers' bets on a risk-adjusted basis and relative to the market. If risk managers want to behave like money managers, they should be evaluated like money managers.     

实现稳增长与控风险有机结合

商业银行是经营风险的企业,风险管理能力强,才能为股东创造更多的价值。要建设一流商业银行,必须处理好“稳增长”和“控风险”的辩证统一关系;必须充分认识到有效发展是第一要务,风险控制和依法合规是必然前提,风险控制的过程就是价值创造过程,既不能以风险防范为由放弃加快发展的目标追求,更不能借口加快发展就违背了风险控制这个根本原则。近两年,辽宁分行坚持以科学发展观统领全行业务经营,努力实现发展的速度、结构、质量和效益协调统一。     

VaR体系与现代金融机构的风险管理

VaR(Value at Risk)是为了适应用一个数据来衡量所有风险,尤其是市场风险的管理需求而产生的.这一方法自J.P.摩根首次提出以来,以其对风险衡量的科学、实用、准确和综合的特点受到包括监管部门在内的国际金融界的普遍欢迎,迅速发展成为风险管理的一种标准,并且与压力测试、情景分析和返回检验等一系列方法形成了风险管理的VaR体系.VaR的产生和发展因此被誉为风险管理的VaR革命.目前,VaR不仅被广泛用于市场风险的综合衡量与管理,而且正在向信用风险管理领域延伸.本文首先对VaR体系进行了比较全面的介绍,然后分别考察了VaR对金融监管的影响和VaR模型有我国金融机构的应用情况.     

CONTINGENT CAPITAL: INTEGRATING CORPORATE FINANCING AND RISK MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

Financial executives of companies that face a sharp increase in business or financial risks have two basic ways of protecting the solvency and strategic viability of their organizations: they can transfer those risks using insurance or derivatives; or they can raise additional capital, typically by issuing equity, to cushion the firm against the higher expected volatility. But CFOs now also have a third means of managing risk, known as "contingent capital," that effectively combines capital raising and risk management.
A contingent capital facility gives a company the right to raise capital after the realization of a loss arising from one or more specified risks, thus ensuring access to capital in potentially difficult times. For example, Swiss Re recently granted Michelin a five-year right to issue ten-year subordinated debt at a fixed spread over LIBOR, though only under conditions in which the tire maker expects its own earnings to be down. To the extent that it eliminates the need to keep more capital on the balance sheet, the use of such contingent capital has the potential to increase shareholder value by reducing a company's overall cost of capital. This article provides an introduction to some recent innovations in contingent capital, along with discussion of their role in integrating corporate finance and risk management.     

“安全导航”坐看风险管理

强化风险事件分类控制和分级管理,应严格落实“评定靠依据、发布讲时效、整改必到位、报告逐签批”的风险管理流程,构建全程化、立体化的管理模式。     

CREATING VISIBILITY FOR INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS IN HIGH SCHOOLS

Abstract: The author describes how a Summer Honors Course in Insurance and Risk Management for outstanding high school students has been devised to create visibility for the Insurance and Risk Management Program at Indiana State University. As the author points out, the same type of course could be devised at other institutions that have both 1) a Summer Honors Program, and 2) a strong undergraduate program in insurance and risk management.