Risk Journal Volume 2

The capability to anticipate and analyze the impact of interconnected risks determines whether companies will succeed or fail. The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal is a collection of perspectives on the complex risks that are determining many companies' futures. This thought-provoking journal produced by our Global Risk & Trading and Financial Services practices contains 16 articles that provide insights on how senior executives can improve their company's performance by managing risks more effectively.

The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal highlights how emerging risks are developing into pressing threats. It also explores the urgent need for companies to develop more risk-aware cultures by clearly defining their risk appetites and then integrating risk management into their financial and strategic decisions across their organizations. Other perspectives examine how financial firms and many other companies can better manage new risks introduced by developments such as rising sovereign risk and increasing scarcity of financial resources.

GLOBAL RISK LANDSCAPE 2012

In an effort to assess the potential impact and likelihood of global risks over the next ten years, 469 respondents were asked to gauge the likelihood and potential impact of 50 risks on a scale of one to five. The chart below – from the Global Risks 2012 report (published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Oliver Wyman) – summarizes the results and shows the full gamut of risks.

1What is The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal?

The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal is the flagship publication of Oliver Wyman’s risk practices; it reflects our firm’s deep commitment to risk management.
2Why is The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal important?

More and more, the capability to anticipate and analyze the impact of interconnected risks is determining whether companies succeed or fail—be they in the financial, energy, or health and life sciences sector. With this in mind, we have produced a collection of perspectives on the risks that we believe will determine companies’ futures.
3What types of topics are covered in The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal?

The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal opens with a discussion of how emerging risks are developing into pressing threats, and then explains why companies urgently need to improve their risk profiles in today’s uncertain environment. Next, it explores the impact of recent events that are rewriting the rules for financial firms, such as the rise of sovereign risk and the scarcity of financial resources. These developments are driving paradigm shifts in areas such as commodity trading and in the approaches used to assess the capital adequacy of financial firms.
4What do you hope readers will gain from reading The Oliver Wyman Risk Journal?

In each article, our authors offer practical advice for how companies can cope with risks that are redefining businesses. Our goal is to inform and to provoke a re-examination of how organizations conduct risk-adjusted decision making. We hope that this publication sparks interesting debate around these themes.