Risk Management and Insurance Major

An insurance broker works directly with clients (businesses) to identify their exposures, risks, and insurance needs. They help mitigate said risks through risk management consulting and placement of insurance policies. Professionals in risk consulting determine potential loss exposures, identify existing controls, and make recommendations on additional loss control programs and activities that will assist clients in increasing their safety awareness and maintaining or enhancing their ability to reduce/prevent losses. Risk consultants work with brokers to obtain the insurance coverage on behalf of their client.

People working in risk management must be able to identify and analyze areas of potential risk to an organization’s assets, as well as its earning capacity or success. They must be able to identify key risks and mitigating factors of potential investments, such as asset types and values, legal and ownership structures, professional reputations, customer bases, or industry segments. Additionally, risk management professionals are often asked to conduct statistical analyses to quantify risk, using statistical analytics software and econometric models. They document and ensure communication of key risks and gather risk-related data from internal and external resources in order to help organizations prioritize risks and make informed decisions to mitigate them.

Professionals working in insurance identify, analyze, and manage risks through several possible paths including underwriting and claims adjusting. Underwriters determine premiums, policy coverage, conditions, and which perils the insurance company agrees to insure. Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators must decide whether to pay a claim by evaluating and investigating the validity of claims.