Singapore: University students get a taste of real-world risk management
Source: Asia Insurance Review | May 2018
Asia Singapore Risk Management
University students from Singapore got a taste of applying risk management concepts to the corporate world when they took part in the annual MSIG Insurance Risk Management Challenge (RMC), a case competition organised by the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Risk Management Society (RMS).
This year’s event drew a record 32 teams, made up of 112 participants from five local universities. In February, participants were given a case study on a fictitious company, Saturn Media Group, which is facing stiff competition in the rapidly changing media market. Teams were required to do a risk assessment on the company’s upcoming plans, to propose a series of risk mitigation options and to suggest actions that the company could take.
The winners at the finals on 17 March was a team from the Singapore Management University School of Accountancy.
Career opportunities
The annual RMC not only offered students from all disciplines an insight into risk management, but also provided them with the chance to network and acquire subject matter knowledge during workshops and coaching sessions, conducted by industry players including MSIG, JLT and KPMG.
After the top 12 teams were selected, a case workshop was held at JLT Asia by the author of the case question, Mr Craig Paterson from JLT, to give participants a more thorough understanding of the case question. These events were also an opportunity for the industry to promote risk management and nurture talent among the tertiary institutions. Professionals from JLT Risk Consulting and MSIG Enterprise Risk Management also had the opportunity to share more with participants about possible career opportunities in risk management.
“We wish to provide a platform for students to acquire relevant knowledge and skills pertaining to risk management over the course of the competition and to gain a better understanding of the risk management profession. We have done a lot more this year to meet these objectives and we are glad to see that all participants have gained a better understanding of risk management through interactions with industry professionals during workshops and through the comprehensive feedback from preliminary, semi-final and grand final round judges, said Ms Huang Shimeng, chairperson of the RMC 2018 Organising Committee.
This year’s RMC was sponsored by MSIG Insurance, JLT Asia and KPMG. MSIG Insurance and JLT Asia are offering guaranteed scholarships or internship interviews to the top five teams, while KPMG is offering guaranteed internship to the champion group and guaranteed internship interviews to the first and second runners-up teams. With these opportunities, students who are interested in risk management would be able to explore this industry further through work experience A