STI Adopts ERM Framework

Sovereign Trust insurance Plc (STI) has adopted the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework in line with the directive of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) that all insurance companies in the country should before the end of year 2011. The ERM set in place machinery, as a way of ensuring that the business of insurance in the country is professionally anchored on the tenets of international best practice and in alignment with the code of good corporate governance. The Board of Directors of Sovereign Trust has approved the ERM framework for the company as put together by one of the country's leading management consultants. T The implementation of same has commenced in the organisation. The ERM framework for the insurance industry in Nigeria is meant to be an all-involving process which trickles down from the Board of Directors to the Management and other operatives in the organisation. The ERM framework is designed to permeate the entire operational process of the insurance business in the country. The company's Head of the Risk Management and Control Department, Sanni Oladimeji, said the firm is committed to the implementation of the ERM Framework and that the company's management will not leave any stone unturned in actualizing the workability of the process which is just new to the Insurance industry in the country. He stated that, "We have taken this exercise as important as any other aspect of our business process and we will not relent in ensuring that the business principle of the company is guided by the ERM Framework henceforth." The underlying premise of Enterprise Risk Management is that every entity in the business component exists to provide value for its stakeholders. All entities face uncertainty and the challenge for management is to determine the level of uncertainty that can be accepted as it strives to grow stakeholders' value. Uncertainty presents both risk and opportunity, with the potential to erode or enhance value. It would be recalled that the Global Credit Rating recently rated Sovereign Trust A- for year 2010. In its report, The agency acknowledged that Sovereign Trust had proactively put in place an ERM framework in line with the directive of NAICOM. In a related development, the management of Sovereign Trust has announced the promotion of 29 members of staff following the conclusion of its 2010 appraisal exercise. The newly promoted staff cuts across different cadre and divisions within the company across the country. The company's Managing Director, Mr. Wale Onaolapo, said the promotion "is in line with management's resolve to continually reward and recognise outstanding performance from time to time. He further stressed that, although, all members of staff have shown great commitment in the discharge of their duties but the ones being promoted and recognized now have been very outstanding and have equally contributed immensely to the growth of the organisation.