The ALS Group Risk Management Articles

Many mid-market employers are becoming increasingly concerned regarding the rising costs of workers compensation coverage in the hardening insurance market.  These cost increases combined with uncertainty over the magnitude of cost increases related to implementation of the Patient Portability and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) have employers scrambling to identify alternatives to reduce cost going forward.

New York City construction activity has seen a re-birth with the city accounting for nearly half of the country’s commercial construction activity. A major part of that is the World Trade Center construction but there are other major projects being undertaken such as the renovation of Madison Square Garden and the 10 and 20 year capital construction programs of Columbia University and NYU.

As most insurance and risk management professionals are aware, Worker’s Compensation market conditions have been relatively soft over the past few years.  A recent article in Business Insurance predicts Workers Compensation will be one of the coverages that will go up in price along with most primary and excess policy layers for 2013; most impacted will be the Worker’s Compensation insurance.  Looking toward the future and what 2013 holds is going to have a strategic impact on a company’s overall budget as well as the options they will have at renewal time.  Companies have been able to supplement their low premiums by purchasing a higher retention policy and relying heavily

We have just emerged from one of the longest soft markets in recent history where premiums were low and insurers were actively competing for business. Many companies took full advantage of the insurer’s oversupply of capacity and their aggressive pricing strategies by saving thousands in insurance costs. However, market conditions are beginning to deteriorate as commercial insurance rates continue to climb and catastrophic losses become a daily occurrence.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society has been discussing the benefits of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) for over 10 years now.  In addition, they have developed the discipline of Strategic Risk Management (SRM) within the courses and material they publish.  To them, ERM seeks to dial down the volatility in the operations of any organization, while SRM is meant to evaluate whether the company’s business strategy on risk is appropriate and provides long term sustainability of the company’s profits.  Thus, if implemented correctly, ERM allows SRM to take a critical and impartial view on the way the company does business and mitigates risk.