Wolters Kluwer Expands ERM Consulting
Services To Finance, Insurance Players

By NU staff

WoLTers KLUwer Financial services is expanding its consulting services for U.s. insurance and securities
firms to help them address the challenges of
enterprise-risk management (erM).
with the increased demand for trans-
parency around risk from regulators, au-
diting firms and rating agencies, financial
firms are feeling the pressure to adopt
comprehensive erM programs. a wolters
Kluwer survey of nearly 185 professionals
working at broker-dealers, investment ad-
visors, hedge funds and other types of se-
curities firms showed more than 80 percent
of the respondents are concerned about
managing risk within their organizations.

and the insurance industry faces similar concerns, with risk management cited as the strongest driver for compliance-related technology investments, according to a

survey conducted by strategy Meets action in conjunction with wolters Kluwer.

The wolters Kluwer consulting team, which includes former compliance and risk-management officers, regulators and attorneys, not only helps firms understand the implications of regulatory changes and requirements, but also helps them employ those changes within the organization so they can successfully integrate compliance, operational and financial-risk management.

a risk-assessment review includes:

J risk categorization: Consultants assist firms in categorizing previously identified risks with standard erM classifications, such as strategic, operational, compliance and financial.

J risk ranking and Prioritization: risks are
analyzed, ranked and prioritized on a scale
of likelihood and magnitude based on a
wide variety of external sources, industry
regulatory actions and trends.

By mark e. rUqUet

WorKers’ CoMPensaTIon lost- time claims increased 3 percent last year, the first increase in such claims since 1997, the national Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (nCCI) reports.

nCCI says the 3-percent increase, which was adjusted to reflect economic factors, marks only the third time in 20 years that frequency has increased.

Prior to the increase in 2010, the report says, claim-frequency rates had fallen more than 56 percent, at an average decrease of more than 4 percent a year from 1990 to 2009.

The report says that “a number of
recession-related factors may have put up-
ward pressure on the [accident year] 2010
frequency measure, including an increase
in new hires as the recovery began to take
hold and a possible influx of small lost-
time claims that may have been medical-
only claims in previous years.”
There was no change in indemnity and
medical-average costs per lost-time claim
for the year.

Crouse Honored With 1st Karen Cutts Visionary Award

By caroline mcDonalD lEONARD D. Crouse, former director of captive insurance in Vermont and a lead- ing spokesman for the captive-insurance industry, received the inaugural Karen Cutts Visionary Award from the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) at its annual conference held Oct 5-7.

The Cutts Award will be given each year to
an individual who has made an outstanding
contribution to the risk-retention group and
purchasing-group liability-insurance industry.

“Len Crouse is recognized as the leader who built the Vermont Captive Insurance Department into the leading captive regulator in the nation,” says NRRA Chairman Brian Braley. “The captive regulatory structure developed by the Vermont department under his leadership set the standard for captive regulation throughout the United States.” NU