Defining risk appetite and using it to inform business decisions proactively is a complex process – one that many asset managers have yet to attempt, let alone master. Aviva Investors, which manages £352 billion ($468 million), may be an exception following the successful overhaul of its operational risk framework with this goal in mind; a project it began in 2016.
“Two years ago, our executive leadership made a conscious decision to accept risk ownership. This drove a top-down cultural change, emphasising the importance of risk and control management to the rest of the business,” says Liezl de Villiers, head of risk identification at Aviva Investors.
A pre-existing informal structure was replaced with one which formally assigned ownership directly to executives and defined their responsibilities. “Executives made time to regularly meet with their divisions discussing risk and control management, thereby embedding top-down senior management views with middle management’s day-to-day experiences.”
During the first year of the programme, Aviva focused on educating staff at every level of the business on the importance of…
