Over the last 20 years the UK actuarial profession and the Institution of Civil Engineers have had a joint initiative on risk management (RAMP - Risk Analysis and Management for Projects), which has established our credibility for risk management outside the financial services field and resulted in four key publications, as follows:

RAMP - Risk Analysis and Management for Projects

This is a methodology for analysing and managing the risks in projects.   Applies to any kind of project, large or small, and not just construction projects – it can also be used for administration change projects, launching a new product, buying a business, or setting up a new IT system.   First published 1998, with a second edition in 2005, and a much improved third edition due to be published by Thomas Telford on 27 June 2014;  Chapter 4 in particular, (Responding to risks), might be of interest to actuaries.

Major Infrastructure Projects: Key Front-end Issues

Infrastructure projects cost large amounts of money and have a major impact on society, the economy and the environment — and they are probably the most complex projects to conceive and manage well at the critical front end. The Major Infrastructure Projects: Key Front-end Issues paper summarises many of the key issues which senior people concerned with the development of major infrastructure projects need to think deeply about before a project is authorised to go ahead. It has been prepared by a working party of civil engineers and actuaries, known as the Risk Group, whose previous publications include the RAMP Guide, which can still be very helpful in managing risk throughout the development and construction phases.

STRATrisk

A guide for managing strategic risks in any kind of enterprise.   Published by Thomas Telford in 2006 as Strategic Risks – a Guide for Directors.    It outlines a recommended methodology, stresses the need for effective Board leadership and participation, and suggests some useful tools.   Can be employed as a check-list, including such items as the need to study embedded risks.   An accompanying CD prepared by the University of Bath contains some case studies and some interesting videos.

Note: Both RAMP and STRATrisk are used by Crossrail, the company building London’s new railway.

ERM – a Guide to Implementation

This is a comprehensive guide to setting up a framework for Enterprise Risk Management in any organisation.   It was published on the actuarial profession’s web-site in 2009 as a draft.  It includes key action points for the Board to consider and has sections on such matters as:

  • Organisational principles
  • Tasks for a central risk function
  • Managing uncertainty
  • Risk appetite and capacity
  • Scenario analysis and stress testing
  • Developing responses to risk
  • Underlying causes of risk
  • Managing strategic risk
  • Managing project risk
  • Managing operational risk
  • Risk governance
  • Developing an action plan
  • ERM self-assessment check 
  • Handling Uncertainty - This short guide for Directors discusses the complex but crucially important task of managing uncertainty, and outlines approaches to the principal issues of Enterprise Risk Management.   It was published for a conference and on the actuarial profession’s website in 2011.

Further outputs:

Contact Details

If you want more information about this research working party please contact the Communities Team.

professional.communities@actuaries.org.uk

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