FEATURES
COVER STORY: LEADING RISK MANAGERS SURJIT RAJPAL Chief risk officer BMO FINANCIAL GROUP Toronto, Ontario
Since 2011, Surjit Rajpal has served as chief risk officer for BMO Financial Group, a diversified financial services provider and parent company of the Bank of Montreal, Canada’s first bank. Rajpal first joined BMO in the early 1980s, holding a variety of positions in capital markets, corporate finance and more before being appointed to executive managing director in 2006. In addition to his work at BMO, Rajpal serves on the board of the Risk Management Association and was chair of the Risk Committee of the Canadian Bankers Association from 2012 to 2014.
ALISON BAIZANA Director, risk and insurance management CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Blood Services is a nonprofit that provides safe, affordable and accessible quality blood supplies to all provinces and territories, with the exception of Quebec. Managing the national supply of blood, blood products and more comes with plenty of risks associated with handling biological materials, all of which fall under the purview of Alison Baizana, who assumed her role as the organization’s director of risk and insurance management in 2008. Prior to joining Canadian Blood Services, Baizana worked for The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company as a senior underwriter, as a business analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s insurance product and services department, and as risk manager for Canada Post. Highly involved in her community, Baizana is a board member at the Ottawa Catholic Child Care Corporation, the Ontario School Boards’ Insurance Exchange and the Ottawa Catholic School Board. She also previously sat on the boards of the RIMS Canadian Capital chapter and the NECTAR Foundation.
28
CATHY TAYLOR Vice-president, risk ELEMENT FLEET MANAGEMENT/ ECN CAPITAL Toronto, Ontario
A trained civil engineer, Cathy Taylor began her 30-year career in risk management at NOVA Corporation under the tutelage of the late risk management icon Bill McGannon. Subsequent roles in leading Canadian organizations led her to her current role as VP of risk at Element Fleet Management and its new spin-off, ECN Capital. Taylor joined Element in 2015 in the midst of an $8 billion acquisition that was closing concurrently with the upcoming renewal of the insurance program. “It was a two-month scramble to learn about the organization, the acquisition target and both insurance programs,” she says. “Fortunately, our broker and insurers went above and beyond the call of duty.” Today, Taylor single-handedly manages risk management and insurance for both Element Fleet Management and ECN Capital. Element Fleet, a global fleet management
company, provides services that span the entire fleet life cycle, while ECN Capital, a commercial finance company, operates across North America in three verticals: rail finance, commercial and vendor finance, and commercial aviation finance. “As with most businesses today, we face a variety of financial and operational risks,” Taylor says. “Cybersecurity and business continuity are a key focus as our clients and we become more technology-dependent. On the strategic front, we are exposed to competition and the threat of disruptive models impacting our industry. The ever-changing regulatory environment is also an area we must manage well. “As we go forward with our growth strategy,” she continues, “the challenge is always to ensure we anticipate our ever-evolving risk profile. I see a need to focus on foresight, not hindsight, when assessing and managing risk. The past is definitely not an indication of the future in a growth-oriented company.” Taylor recently completed a term as chair of the Conference Board of Canada’s Strategic Risk Council, and is an active member of RIMS and Professional Engineers Ontario.
www.insurancebusiness.ca
26-37_Risk Management-SUBBED.indd 28
8/12/2016 5:43:13 AM