Clive Thompson

I have worked in risk management of some sort for over 40 years. It has offered me an extremely varied, interesting and fascinating time: Whether I was dealing with massive open cast mine operations in South Africa or South America, Oil refineries in Northern Europe, Pharmaceutical operations in the US and UK or banks in Switzerland, I have had to grapple with some pretty challenging projects. Starting with an insurance company I developed my career by setting up and managing captive insurance companies in the Cayman Islands. As a young professional, this proved a fun location: There are some great beaches there! I left the insurance field in order to specialise in risk management and work with clients to help them improve their management processes. This would allow them to develop more efficient methods of financing - and it was a greater challenge for me. I worked in a small consultancy where we changed the way companies looked at risk: we helped them identify the competitive advantage by enhancing their risk management. I have always been interested in what is coming next. So, around the turn of the century, when telecomms were all the rage I was involved in risk finance arrangements for many of the (then) new operators coming to the market. They were exploiting the opportunities that the new IT systems had created. Some of them did it well, others not so. It was a great learning experience. And when the global financial crisis happened in 2008/9 I became involved in that field - it was, at the time, where the most serious risk lay and has proved to be where systemic risk still resides. The IRM has been the cornerstone of my extended learning in risk management. Paul Hopkin and I have presented at various conferences together and we have collaborated to develop fundamental thinking in the discipline of risk management over the years. When I was asked to update his book I felt very privileged. Paul's founding work remains, but I have been able to overlay it with new thinking on digitization and climate change. If you are interested in learning more about risk management or making a career of it, I hope you find this book interesting and helpful. I have tried to bring case studies from around the world so it will appeal to everyone. I have also endeavoured to cover many different industries and brought my varied experiences to bear, across all those sectors, so you can get the widest possible learning experience. Whatever your background I really hope you find this useful and, more than that, I hope you have as fulfilling a career in this wonderful industry as I have had.