What have been the hot topics at RIMS 2016?

With RIMS now behind us, we are beginning to get a real sense of the issues and challenges that delegates are talking about. The key themes of economic, political and cyber risks drove the conversation. It isn’t a huge surprise to see such a unanimous response to the ‘what keeps you awake at night’ question, which we also predict will be echoed at AIRMIC in a couple of months.
The global risk market is facing a huge degree of uncertainty in the coming weeks. The fact that the Presidential race is turning ugly with months still to go to the finish and the view of a possible Brexit are obviously cause for concern amongst the risk management community. Both are likely to impact on business sentiment and confidence.

The competitive landscape in the US means that exhibitors really invest significant amounts in communicating their message and getting to see clients and prospects. This year, we have seen a reduction in the scope of some of the exhibition booths, however less investment there has been countered by more investment in meeting spaces and hubs. The Aon and Marsh lounges were huge, whilst Willis Towers Watson took the opportunity to engage with their new branding in their own space. The take out from this must be that competition is increasing and this extra ‘talk time’ is both a defensive measure by some and a proactive move by others.

Understanding and managing risk was high on the agenda to try and combat the uncertainty. The number of suppliers trying to do this is huge, with Ventiv, RiskConnect and Origami fielding a strong presence. We are certainly familiar with the former two but Origami is just reaching out to the UK, so I guess it is very much ‘watch this space…’.

San Diego has been a great host city, they have worked hard to make everyone feel welcome – especially with the opening in the Gaslamp Quarter. And the Swiss Re transport is a great help.

Here’s a round-up of some of our favourite tweets from this year’s event:

#RIMS2016 opens with a bang; risk management called into action:https://t.co/ysbYWgObog pic.twitter.com/K426M3rnSu

— Risk & Insurance® (@RiskInsurance) April 11, 2016

Key themes for #RIMS2016: Capital, crisis, innovation, workplace, regulation #RiskReady pic.twitter.com/FnJXC4iSZw

— Marsh (@MarshGlobal) April 11, 2016

Check out Gemo the RIMS robot in action at the RIMS Hub 1135 #RIMS2016 pic.twitter.com/zLQtKYvE39

— Risk & Ins Mgmt Soc (@RIMSorg) April 11, 2016

Interesting discussions at #RIMS2016. Man-made disasters are increasingly of concern to risk managers. #LloydsCityRisk @LloydsofLondon

— Inga Beale (@IngaBeale) April 11, 2016

The world’s oldest active sailing ship, The Star of India (1863) was home to @SwissRe_CS #RIMS2016 reception Sunday pic.twitter.com/wQREIF5hOF

— Steve Wilson (@stevewilsonlive) April 11, 2016

The Buzz at #RIMS2016: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: The “Uberization” of the Workforce https://t.co/BBZsOiOire via @YouTube #WTWrims

— WTWrisk (@WTWrisk) April 13, 2016