Walking the Walk in 2009

Heading into 2009, many firms are beginning to realize the need to bolster their risk management practices and approaches.  The main challenge centers around the need for a solid risk management framework that can be employed throughout an organization.  In turn, the framework should shape the risk management culture with strong support from the CEO and Board of Directors.  In a recent article in Wall Street & Technology magazine, risk management is identified as the number one priority for financial firms in 2009.   Here is an excerpt:

Analysts agree that the biggest challenge firms face in managing risk is at the operating level. Risk managers will be given much more importance by a firm’s top managers than in the past, when the pursuit of alpha typically came at the expense of risk mitigation. 

This certainly comes as no surprise given the severity of the current crisis driven largely by the neglect of risk management.  Everyone is talking the talk.  2009 is the year to walk the risk management walk.