Santam rewards SA's top players in risk management

Santam, the country’s largest short-term insurer, last night honoured and rewarded the visionary yet ‘unsung heroes’ of the risk management industry at the Institute of Risk Management of South Africa (IRMSA) annual conference held at the Indaba Hotel in Johannesburg.

Dr. Greg Ker-Fox, Group Risk Manager at Murray & Roberts Ltd, was named the Risk Manager of the Year for 2007, and received an award of R40 000 from Santam.

Mpumi Tyikwe, Executive Head New and External Markets at Santam, notes that Ker-Fox was appointed Group Risk Manager at Murray & Roberts some three years ago, after completing his academic studies at Stellenbosch University with a PhD in project risk management.

“Working within an Enterprise Risk Management framework, Greg has methodically introduced risk management, based on best practice, throughout a broad cross-section of the Murray & Roberts Group. A significant achievement has been his development and implementation of OMS - a world-class risk management system for managing opportunities from initiation through to bid preparation, approval and tender submission,” he said.

Escrow Europe (Pty) Ltd won the award for Best Small Business Initiative related to Risk Management; the Independent Complaints Directorate won the award for Best Local Government Risk Management Initiative, while Nedbank Ltd was rewarded for Most Effective Company Risk Management Programme.

Commenting on the awards as a whole, Tyikwe says: “Santam’s strategy is largely based on encouraging institutions and people to manage their risk in order to live a safer and nicer lifestyle. We are delighted therefore to be involved in this initiative to recognize the achievements of professional risk managers in the industry.

“We believe that risk management can and should be measured and deserve to be rewarded. We offer our sincere congratulations to Greg Ker-Fox and to the winners in the other categories.”

Tyikwe notes that the institution of an award for Best Small Business Initiative related to risk management was a direct response to the widening gap in the implementation of risk management principles between listed and unlisted companies, and hence designed to encourage adaptation of Risk Management within this sector.

He also notes that the award for Best Local Government Risk Management Initiative was deliberately designed to encourage continued development of risk management initiatives within local government structures, while the ‘Most Effective Company Risk Management Programme’ award seeks to honour a company that has used risk management to improve the overall performance of the organization over a period of time.

“Our winners have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of Risk Management and have served their shareholders/stakeholders well. Through their innovation, creativity and expertise they have helped to promote the discipline and have made a significant contribution to the industry as a whole,” concludes Tyikwe.

Pictured below (from left)
Reginald Haman, President of IRMSA, Ian Kirk, Chief Executive of Santam, Greg Ker-Fox, Risk Manager of the Year for 2007 and Mpumi Tyikwe, Executive Head of New and External Markets at Santam