Organisers behind the inaugural EURisk Convention are celebrating the success of the event’s Certificate in Quantitative Risk Management (CQRM) and hope to bring the course to Ghana in 2019 as part of a similar event.

The EURisk Convention, which took place at the University of Hull this June, gave academics, risk professionals and business leaders the opportunity to take the CQRM in the UK for the first time, led by global risk expert Dr Johnathan Mun.

Delegates from 21 countries were in attendance to sit the highly intensive course, which over three days covered Monte Carlo simulation, predictive models, portfolio optimisation and strategic options, illustrated using up to 50 real-life business examples.

Course leader Dr Mun said: “Risk management and risk-based decision analytics are applicable across all industries and companies. We had over a dozen professors from universities across four continents attend, working together with seasoned financial professionals, engineers, project managers, senior management and executives from varying backgrounds and industries around the world.”

It is hoped the course will equip the participants to further enhance their own careers, as well as help their existing organisations push the envelope of advance analytics, decision making and risk management.

Denis Echeru, Chief Risk Officer of Centenary Bank Uganda, was one of the participants taking the CQRM qualification. He said: “I’ve been involved in risk for 10 years; it is my passion. I’ve taken many courses over the years, but this is one of the best - this is the course I needed. It’s hands on and practical, allowing you to see real scenarios, run a simulation and make decisions based on that.

“There is huge demand for risk management in Africa. This qualification will allow me to run a consultancy and help many people there.”

Mariana Jurado Salazar, currently studying Risk Management at Nottingham University, took the course to boost her employability going forward. She said: “The CQRM will help me to apply some of the things I’ve learned in my studies. The programme and methodology isn’t just about adding some numbers and hitting enter – it demands a greater understanding beyond those numbers.”

In recent months, the collapse of construction giant Carillion and a range of high street businesses has brought the issue of effective risk management into sharp focus. As a result, more companies that ever before are becoming aware of the importance of effective risk management, and the CQRM course attracted many senior business leaders keen to expand their knowledge.

Dr Calie Pistorius, Chief Executive of technical innovation consultancy DeltaHedron, was another delegate impressed by the teaching. He said: “The presentation of Dr Mun is key. There are a lot of concepts to understand in a short time, but the way it is presented gives you the big picture of where it all fits in. The ability to do all the simulation in the seminars makes all the difference. Overall it was a fantastic experience.”

Dr Luis Enrique Pedauga, Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics and Statistics at the University of Leon, said: “The CQRM was more than I expected; I thought it would be very technical, but it was a very applied course. I will certainly be incorporating the programme and methodology into my teaching – it makes hard things very easy to do.”

In addition to the CQRM course, the convention featured seminars, presentations and workshops given by a number of prominent risk professionals, including Dr Pedauga, insurance expert Dr Robert Hudson and fintech guru Dr Paolo Sironi.

Dr Mun added: “Our delegates were really engaged with the course content and performed well in the examination, achieving an outstanding pass rate. We’ve previously seen the CQRM course have a great impact, from delegates gaining job promotions to professors even revamping their own courses to incorporate some of our methodology. We give people knowledge. Knowledge is power.”

Dr Elvis Hernandez-Perdomo, Director of organisers OSL Risk Management, said: “On the back of the success of the convention, we hope to take the CQRM to other universities around the UK and Europe as a whole, and we have exciting plans for an event in Accra, Ghana, too. We want more professionals to be able to access Dr Mun’s superb insight and acquire the knowledge to develop their risk management skills.”

Email euconvention@oslriskmanagement.com or connect with OSL Risk Management on Linkedin for more information about future CQRM courses.