Such changes in Europe include the future of the European Union and the euro and the effects of the ongoing economic and financial turmoil on the various risks faced by companies.

But the concerns of Ferma increasingly lie beyond the borders of Europe, as companies that are represented by its member associations become more involved in markets elsewhere.

“We must think outside of Europe, we cannot be too European-centric,” Ms Graham said. “Lots of the events we are seeing these days have much wider amplifications. We need to see that in the context of the wider world,” she added.

For example, the association was recently involved in a concerted effort to warn against the effects of legal changes in Brazil and Argentina as both countries aimed to close, to different degrees, their reinsurance markets to foreign players.

For Ms Graham, Ferma must remain focused on the wider world to spot similar developments everywhere. “We have to check the impact of what is happening in China, the future of the United States and Russia, to see things globally,” she said. “In fact we have to go even further than the countries where our companies operate and keep an eye on the seismic shifts that are taking place in the world today.”

A more complicated world means a riskier environment for companies and, as such, risk managers should continue to see their importance within organisations grow. “But it also means a challenge, and we have to be able to take advantage of it,” Ms Graham warned. “And to do that, you need to be educated. So we have to think about the role that Ferma should play in setting standards for education in our profession. That is yet another item that we have in our agenda,” the former Airmic chairman added.

Education must help to fulfil the growing needs of European companies for risk professionals, and address the difficulties they often have in finding young prospects interested in building a career in the sector, she said.

Ms Graham sees positive development in this area. A growing number of universities are offering master courses in risk-related areas, she said. But there is still much to do and Ferma intends to be increasingly involved in the effort to take risk management to the young.

“Unlike other careers like accountancy, which are quite well defined, risk management is still a relatively new discipline. I believe that, as a profession, it still needs some clarity as to what we mean by risk management,” she said.

The idea is not to create a one-size-fits-all definition of risk management, as the demands its practitioners face vary widely depending on the industry in which they work. But people need to understand what the career demands in different industries, so that education programmes can cater for them appropriately, Ms Graham pointed out. “This is an important subject for Ferma. If we don’t understand the profession and we don’t build a strategy, we don’t have the foundations to bring young people into risk management,” she concluded.

Ferma’s focus on the promotion of the profession amongst younger professionals is reflected during this week’s Forum in a couple of ways.

First, yesterday morning young risk professionals were invited to attend a breakfast at the Congress Centre that was supported by Lloyd’s Register. One of the attendees was due to win an iPad.

Then, the first 19 candidates selected for Ferma’s Young Professional Development Initiative were to be announced yesterday evening at the Lloyd’s cocktail reception at the Forum.

Candidates from 11 countries were to be selected. The programme is sponsored by Lloyd’s and will start on April 19 and 20 in London next year and continue with two day sessions in October 2012 and April 2013. The Ferma/Lloyd’s Professional Development Programme for risk managers comprises topics such as accessing Lloyd’s and the London insurance market, risk management, exposure management, performance management and emerging risks.

It also includes claims management, international regulation and will provide practical experience of a Lloyd’s underwriting box and the chance to shadow a Lloyd’s broker (hopefully not also for a debrief at the Lamb and Flag!).

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