![“Over the course of four days at NACD Summit 2023, speakers pushed nearly 1,500 in-person and virtual attendees to think about new approaches and ways of thinking about their roles as directors in a world of crisis. […] One area that is an emerging risk in today’s environment is a company’s reputation. ‘We failed to predict that trust could be a target, just like information systems, and that there are entities out there that want you to diminish trust in our institutions…’”](https://steelcityre.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231122b-Steel-City-Re-1.jpg)
“Over the course of four days at NACD Summit 2023, speakers pushed nearly 1,500 in-person and virtual attendees to think about new approaches and ways of thinking about their roles as directors in a world of crisis. […] One area that is an emerging risk in today’s environment is a company’s reputation. ‘We failed to predict that trust could be a target, just like information systems, and that there are entities out there that want you to diminish trust in our institutions…’”
Tolerable Risk podcast. 🔊 My guest is Nir Kossovsky, CEO of Steel City Re and an expert in the area of reputational risk management. Nir has the most interesting background which gives him multiple perspectives on the topic of reputational risk.
During the episode, Nir and I discuss:
👀 What “agitation” and “behavior perils” are and why you should be aware of them
🤔 Why perception is as important (if not more!) than reality
💰 How taking an active approach to reputational risk management can help you with fundraising
🦁 And how it all starts with courage
✅ Nir also discusses how the “Big Six” – Ethics, Innovation, Safety, Security, Sustainability, and Quality – are the best place to begin.
In the past six months, more than $130 billion in shareholder value was lost by 39 banks due to reputational risk—the risk of unmet stakeholder expectations resulting in incinerated business value–flawed stakeholder intelligence.
![A CEO and former Los Angeles County deputy coroner on what he feels derailed the ESG movement […] ESG died from toxicity and dysfunctionality. Culpable parties include investors, fund managers, corporate communicators and politicians.](https://steelcityre.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20231006-Steel-City-Re.jpg)
A CEO and former Los Angeles County deputy coroner on what he feels derailed the ESG movement […] ESG died from toxicity and dysfunctionality. Culpable parties include investors, fund managers, corporate communicators and politicians.
Southwest Airlines reputation crisis. At crisis day 277, Southwest equity is under performing the S&P500 index by 36.5%.
![In a world of polycrisis, […] risk managers need to… market the elevated quality of their risk management processes.](https://steelcityre.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230926-Steel-City-Re.jpg)
In a world of polycrisis, […] risk managers need to… market the elevated quality of their risk management processes. The author thanks for their contributions to this article:
Courtney Davis Curtis, University of Chicago; Deyna Feng, Cummins, Inc.; Mary C. Friedl, Redbox; Kathleen A. Graham, The HQ Companies; Chris Hammond, Stepan; Enya He, Blu Clarity PBC; Carnell R. Jones, Trinitas Ventures; Christy Kaufman, Zillow Group; John C. Kline, Discover Financial Services; Manuel Padilla, MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated; Soubhagya Parija, FirstEnergy and New York Power Authority; Kristen Peed, CBIZ; Theresa Severson, Kite Realty Group; Seung Yoo, Regal Rexnord Corporation; and Denise Williamee, Steel City Re.
![A new generation of risk managers trained specifically in the role and with a deep understanding of risk and risk transfer is reevaluating how they use insurance, increasingly preferring to manage and self-insure their own risks instead of relying on the open market. […] “We reinsure captives not to transfer the bulk of the risk, which is essentially equity risk from a capital perspective, but for the strategic purposes of affirming the quality of risk management.](https://steelcityre.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230911-Steel-City-Re.jpg)
A new generation of risk managers trained specifically in the role and with a deep understanding of risk and risk transfer is reevaluating how they use insurance, increasingly preferring to manage and self-insure their own risks instead of relying on the open market. […] “We reinsure captives not to transfer the bulk of the risk, which is essentially equity risk from a capital perspective, but for the strategic purposes of affirming the quality of risk management.
The industry saw its biggest decline in sentiment since 2018, according to American Banker’s annual reputation survey, with regional banks accounting for the bulk of this deterioration. […] the findings were a “powerful” showcase of how vulnerable banks’ reputations are to periods of crisis.
Backlash Over AI Work. Companies can mitigate the risk of backlash by encouraging collaboration between IT, enterprise risk management and communications within the organization, as well as getting the board involved in overseeing the risk management process, said Steel City Re’s Kossovsky.
ESG risk is one of a growing number of stakeholder-centric issues falling under the greater rubric of reputation risk. High-profile, costly risk management failures at AB InBev (Bud Light), Southwest Airlines and Silicon Valley Bank indicate that it is time for risk management to be more fully integrated into corporate processes, like marketing: #letriskmanagersmanagerisk! Reputation risk management needs to be a standard area of enterprise risk management responsibility. Can we drink to that?