Global Risk Institute is a preeminent source of ideas on the management of emerging risks and trends for financial services organizations
21 March 2019 | Technology Innovations
In this paper, we discuss Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), one of the most common and complex Machine Learning tools. After a non-technical introduction to ANNs, we examine the risks associated with the application of this algorithm to financial data.
14 March 2019 | Geopolitical
In 2019, some of the largest emerging economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America could undergo disruptive political changes, while populist and anti-establishment parties are set to expand their reach in the European Union. This article provides a preliminary assessment of the policy implications of these elections and the risks for global financial institutions.
19 February 2019 | Technology Innovations
Public-key cryptography, which underpins the security of most of the tools we rely on today including cloud computing, payment systems, the internet, and IoT, are all susceptible to being broken by quantum computers in the not-so-distant future.
4 February 2019 | Geopolitical
This “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) promises to link China to both neighbouring and distant regions along its southern and western frontiers through a mass infrastructure investment project, including roads, rail lines, ports, energy pipelines and digital networks. With a sum total of promised investments reaching $1 trillion (estimates vary), the BRI may be the most ambitious scheme of its kind ever attempted – 7 to 8 times larger than the $140 billion Marshall Plan that funded the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War – and could take decades to fully complete.
4 February 2019 | National Pension Hub
Pension plan sponsors are aware of one longevity risk in their plans – the risk that plan members live longer than assumed. There are steps that they have taken to mitigate this risk. Pension liabilities have been valued anticipating future increases in longevity, and some longevity exposure has been transferred to insurance companies through annuity purchases or pension “buy-ins”.
24 January 2019 | Impact & Use of Leverage
This article discusses use of leverage in the context of defined benefit pension plan investment. It defines the term leverage, discusses how leverage creates value using a simple one-period model and stylized market assumptions, examines risks associated with using leverage and reviews methods and best practices to mitigate and manage these risks.
16 January 2019 | Cyber security and Fraud
This publication provides an extension of our work on estimating the real-world effort it will take for a quantum computer to compromise symmetric cryptographic functions at the foundation of protecting our ICT infrastructure.
7 January 2019 | Risk Management Practices
2018 marks the third year of the Global Risk Institute’s annual Risk Outlook Survey of our member organizations’ risk outlooks for the coming year. The results of this survey provide insights into our members’ views on key risks, on the stability of their individual institutions and the overall Canadian financial system, and on the strength of major global economies. Survey responses were obtained from a range of financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, and pension funds.
6 December 2018 | Geopolitical
This report moves beyond traditional approaches to risk management in the financial services industry and focuses specifically on understanding political uncertainty. It uses the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a case study to illustrate the value of social scientific theory when analyzing multilateral negotiations.
6 December 2018 | Risk Management Practices
Are Emerging risks foreshadowing a Systemic Risk Event? In this paper, we do a comparison of the GRAFT matrix over several years to gain insight into potential systemic changes that may be on the horizon.
