Sydney, 2 October 2014: Most companies understand that they must address risk to remain competitive and grow their business. However the real challenge for business lies in understanding and developing the tools and solutions necessary to succeed in the face of the ever-accelerating change and complexity of today’s risk landscape.

So said Lambros Lambrou, CEO of Aon Risk Solutions Australia, a risk management business of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) ahead of the tenth annual Aon Advanced Risk Finance Conference, which kicks off in Melbourne on 8 October. The theme of this year’s conference, “Ten Years of Risk Financing Insights”, will drive home Mr. Lambrou’s point, highlighting that risks which now appear high on many organisations’ agendas barely existed 10 years ago.

According to Mr. Lambrou the breadth and variety of  risks businesses now face requires them to mitigate against a wider range of issues than ever before, from white-collar crimes to cyber risk.

Mr. Lambrou highlighted cyber risk as a significant hazard in a technology driven environment that often flies under the radar: “The potential ramifications of cyber risk, which has been described as “the asbestos of risk”, are widely underestimated, particularly here in Australia where we are demonstrably behind the curve when it comes to even a basic understanding of the issues. This applies not only when it comes to individuals’ privacy, but for the integrity of entire organisations. That includes major liability issues at the Board and Director level right through to the very real threat that cyber risk poses to undermining everyday operational capability.”

The underlying theme of the conference focuses on the importance of ‘big data’ in shaping the future of risk management and helping businesses address issues like cyber risk in a more sophisticated way.

“The risk management industry has become the poster child for resolving the vexed question of how to put big data to use, and in so doing has transitioned from being a relationship, intuition-based industry to one that is increasingly truly data driven,” said Mr. Lambrou. “As our industry plays a vital role in promoting global economic growth, we must use the data and technology available to us to evolve faster than our clients on their risk and people issues to support them in meeting the challenges in the future. This conference is an ideal forum in which to do this.”

In addition to looking at global and local insurance and reinsurance trends, the conference will examine another important economic issue: risk and people – and, more specifically, how they interrelate.

“An organisation’s people is its most valuable asset. People risk is often at the heart of our conversations with clients, and rightly so. Failing to properly mitigate against this risk will have catastrophic outcomes for any business,” said Mr. Lambrou.

The Aon Advanced Risk Finance Conference 2014 will highlight the following issues:

• Shareholder value and risk maturity – the strong correlation between a company’s risk preparedness and its financial performance
• Big data – developing tools to harness its power to make better risk management and financing decisions
• Global insurance and reinsurance markets – the effect of the flow of capital from alternative sources such as pension funds and the need to use this capital to innovate
• People risk – the so-called ‘soft science’ that hits hardest on the bottom line
• The psychology of the white-collar criminal
• The “asbestos” of today’s risk management world: cyber risk

The conference unites global specialists from Aon’s London, Chicago, Singapore, Ireland and Beijing offices to share latest industry trends and data and offer risk management and financing insights to an audience of leading Australian and multinational companies.

Conference sessions will be delivered by key Aon executives from across the world, in conjunction with case studies from Coca Cola-Amatil, Lend Lease and Christie’s, along with a range of experts from academia, the insurance industry and the corporate world.

Mr. Lambrou concluded: “While organisations have a surplus of information, which is growing exponentially, they also often have a shortage of insight. Understanding that information as it relates to risk and how to mitigate it can have an extraordinary effect on the growth and bottom line fortunes of any organisation.

“Risk and insurance go hand-in-hand, but our conference agenda goes beyond the surface to drill into the hard data and trends that underpin the way every single industry should be looking at managing the countless risks they face.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview with Lambros Lambrou, Please contact:

Valentina Ciampi, BlueChip Communication
T: +61 2 9018 8609
E: valentina@bluechipcommunication.com.au

Neil Glaser, Aon Australia
T: +61 2 9253 8402
E: neil.glaser@aon.com 

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 66,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world’s best broker, best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, best captives manager, and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit aon.com for more information on Aon and aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon’s global partnership with Manchester United.