How to quantify risks for insurance purposes and save a lot of money

Alex joined the fertilizer company just under 2 years ago and has since focused on proactive and effective risk management designed to reduce volatility in company performance, improve decision-making and strengthen corporate culture. Under Alex's leadership the fertilizer company risk management has become integrated into the day-to- day management and operation of the business, risk management now guides corporate decision-making and forms an integral part of company culture.

The introduction of quantitative risk analysis changed how investment decisions are prepared and discussed at the Board (stochastic stress tests and NPV@risk), how insurance decision are made (loss exceedance curves, claims probability distributions), how performance is measures and businesses are remunerated (risk-adjusted net margins, risk capital charges), how large IT projects are implemented (cost and schedule quant risk analysis), how pricing and accounts receivables is managed (cVaR), how compliance issues are identified and managed (stochastic decision trees), limiting market risk exposure (VaR, limits, stop losses), how HSE risks are quantified and mitigated (stochastic risk models) and so on.

The fertilizer company has became home for some of the most advanced quant risk analysis in non financial companies. This risk maturity has contributed significantly to both company financial performance and the reduction in risk mitigation costs, for example the cost of insurance has been reduced by $10+ million year to year, without changes to deductibles or other changes in the quality of coverage, if anything the quality of insurance coverage has increased.

Alex's work helped the company to recognize that making business decisions involves taking calculated risks, and correctly assessing these risks is fundamental to delivering long-term value to our shareholders and meeting our commitments to other stakeholders. Over the last 12 months Alex's team has made significant progress in integrating quantitative risk analysis into decision making. Key business processes have been updated to make sure risks are identified and their effects assessed, mitigated and transparently communicated when making material decisions. This allowed the fertilizer company to proactively respond to COVID-19 and minimize potentially adverse effects on company personnel, supply chains, liquidity and customers.