In-house risk roles can be lonely – Airmic helps
Being in an in-house risk manager or head of insurance can be an isolated job. Attending AIRMIC events offers an opportunity to share challenges and solutions with peers, Martin Smyth, an Airmic board member, told this publication ahead of AIRMIC’s annual conference taking place in Edinburgh this week.
“In-house risk & insurance teams can be a lonely place, Airmic enables me to have the opportunity to interact and network with industry peers,” he said.
“I have lost count of the number of times either I have reached out to another member, or they've reached out to me for pointers/advice. Many of the topics discussed through the Special Interest Groups, Airmic Academy or Airmic Live series have highlighted really important issues to me and elevated my understanding.
In the context of this year’s event, he said he is looking forward seeing Daniel Hulme presentation on emerging technology on the Monday. “Last time I heard Daniel present he made a really complex matter feels incredibly simple! I also have signed up the Supply chain resilience session to learn more about a really prominent topic.”
Asked of his tenure as both a member and a Board member of Airmic, he cited several achievements. “Firstly, chairing the Insurance special interest groups and providing a forum for my peers & I to continue to interact on key topics in a safe (Chatham House) space - the most dynamic and interactive SIG we held was on running broker tenders!
“The second is being able to support a number of mentees, who are newer to their roles or perhaps looking for help to navigate insurance/risk as a career. It's a real privilege to support the next generation of risk talent.
“I believe AIRMIC has demonstrated its relevance to the insurance & risk professionals tremendously over a 60-year period, but the same things that have got us to today will not serve us for the next 60 therefore we as a board will need to adapt.”
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