Effective Risk Management in a Disruptive World

Ward Ching is Managing Director – Western Region, Global Risk Consulting located in San Francisco, California. He is primarily responsible for Captive and Insurance Management Services, Domicile Management, and supports a variety of Aon Management Consulting Services to clients. Ward is also part of Aon’s Alternative Risk Finance Practice and Aon’s Multinational Client Council, servicing Aon’s largest international client base.

Prior to joining Aon, Ward was Vice President, Risk Management Operations at Safeway Inc. located in Pleasanton, California. His responsibilities included Enterprise Risk Management, Integrated Risk Finance, Hazard Loss Control, Environmental Compliance, Property Risk Control/Engineering and a variety of retail, distribution, and manufacturing risk management initiatives, including Safeway’s Culture of Safety. Prior to joining Safeway, Ward was a Principal at Towers Perrin and a Managing Director at Marsh.

Ward is a frequent author and speaker on the subjects of Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management, the use of NextGen analytics, and structured risk finance. He has been working closely with several research and business organizations, such as the Risk and Insurance Management Society and several University Business Schools to investigate and report on complex enterprise risk issues, methods and solutions.

Ward is Adjunct Professor of Management in the Marshall Business School at the University of Southern California, teaching Insurance and Risk Management courses at the undergraduate level.

Ward is a member of the Chief Risk Officer Advisory Council, George Mason University Chief Risk Officer Program that supports the academic and applied development of the next generation of Chief Risk Officers.

Ward is Vice Chairman of the RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional Commission, which administers and manages the RIMS CRMP Certification program on a global basis.

Chris Mandel is SVP of strategic solutions for Sedgwick and Director of the Sedgwick Institute, where in both roles he is responsible for helping the company reach its strategic vision of serving current and evolving needs of its current and future customers, as well as help lead the industry vertical to the next level and beyond. He founded two firms, specializing in risk management and insurance services. Mr. Mandel has more than 25 years of experience in insurance and large global corporate risk management. He has pioneered the development of integrated risk management at USAA, where S&P rated USAA as “excellent” and a “leader in ERM”. His career included leadership roles at Liberty Mutual, Marsh, Verizon, American National Red Cross, PepsiCo and USAA, and he has served in numerous leadership positions with the Risk and insurance Management Society. He has held appointments to: the Spencer Educational Foundation Board; the Board of the risk retention group for the American Orthodontics Association; the Center for Enterprise Risk Management Advisory Council (University of GA); and the Advisory Boards of AIG, the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance Group, Liberty Mutual, Zurich American, FM Global, G4S and Willis. He was elected a founding member of Risk Who’s Who in 2008. He is recognized by his peers as a thought leader in ERM and related disciplines.

Soubhagya Parija has been leading risk management programs for over two decades at different companies in the US across multiple industry sectors including retail and utilities. He designed a global compliance risk management program at Walmart’s international division and has been instrumental in implementing GRC systems at three companies. He has been a thought leader and speaker at various conferences. He serves in the Board and the Audit Committee at Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS). He also serves on the Risk Management Council of American Management Association (AMA) and as an advisor to the CRO Council at George Mason University. Soubhagya has a Masters Degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India and an MBA from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. He also completed the Harvard Business Analytics Program, an intensive certification program offered by Harvard University. He currently serves as the Chief Risk Officer at the New York Power Authority, nation’s largest public owned power utility where he is responsible for Enterprise Risk Management, Operational Risk Management, Commodities Trading, Corporate Insurance and Risk Analytics.