We might think that risk management is a contemporary concept. However, historians suggest that the earliest manifestations of risk management are linked to gaming. Thousands of years ago, in ancient civilisations, people considered potential gains vs. losses as they played games of chance with bones, stones or dice. There is also evidence that people played early versions of checkers and chess more than 2,000 years ago.

The role of insurance in risk management is also ancient, with documentation of mutual burial and aid societies reaching back to early Rome. The notion of risk is not new. What has continually evolved is the notion of mastering risk. Mastering risk—understanding that events can be managed —is the true distinguishing factor between what we might consider ancient times and modern times. The discipline of risk management as we know it today evolved largely after World War II and into the 1970s, when risk managers realised that it was too expensive to manage every risk with insurance. They began to expand alternatives to insurance, such as safety and training programs. Executives set risk appetite and thresholds and tracked key risk indicators to understand risks and attempt to control losses. These approaches are useful in understanding past events and putting in place stronger controls to prevent recurrence. The problem is that they provide little foresight into the probability and impact of future events. This has caused senior executives to question the relative value of their investments in risk management and driven the risk management industry to evolve existing practices to focus on pre-emptive risk management.

Risk Panorama provides a social platform for business leaders and risk management professionals to share, discuss and enquire about current and evolving practices of risk management. Risk Panorama provides a central location for risk management professionals to come and explore, network and – when needed – solicit help.