Mission

 

The mission of the Canada Research Chair in Risk Management is to understand the choices that are made in situations involving risk and develop instruments to improve risk management. The Chair focuses mainly on areas where risk management has failed in recent years, such as liquidity risk, high-frequency trading risk, credit risk, securitization, and the governance of risk management.

 

The Chair’s research will help ensure that the 2007 financial crisis history does not repeat itself when society is faced with its major risks.

 

Risk Management

 

Risk management is a young and promising field of research. Many events—including the disastrous returns on certain investments, fatal road accidents, food contamination, and acts of terrorism—show just how numerous and varied the sources of risk can be. Research such as that conducted by the Chair makes it possible to develop tools to manage risks and, consequently, to reduce the substantial costs they incur.

Traditionally associated with the insurance industry, risk management has now reached into other sectors of activity that closely concern not only individuals but also businesses and society as a whole. We have contributed to this development in many ways, notably by designing risk management models with applications in several fields: insurance, banking, road safety, environmental risks, health, public safety, and finance (with specific attention to operational, liquidity, and credit risks and the management of financial portfolios).

 

Creation of the Chair

 

As a recipient of financial support from the Canada Research Chairs Program, the HEC Montréal Chair of Risk Management became the Canada Research Chair in Risk Management in January 2004.

 

It was renewed for a new seven-year term in 2017 (starting January 2018) with a financial support of $1.4 million from SSHRC.