ANZIIF risk surveying diploma still relevant and timely in China

Rapid development within the Chinese economy and property insurance market has led to an increased demand for insurers to incorporate risk engineering expertise and services, according to ANZIIF subject matter expert (SME) Zhou Jie, Head of Engineering at HSB Technical Consulting & Service, China.

Leveraging risk data

Zhou, who supported the development of ANZIIF’s Advanced Diploma of Risk Surveying, says the Chinese property and construction market, in particular, greatly values professional and creditable risk engineering services provided by insurance companies.

However, in general, insurance companies lack universal benchmarks for the evaluation, differentiation and mitigation of risks, and the way risk factors can be leveraged to support underwriting decisions.

“Given its value in the entire risk management and insurance ecosystem, risk engineering should not be a standalone function,” Zhou asserts.

“It needs to become an integral part of the value chain to enable sustainable [property] development and maximise customer value.” 

Qualitative and quantitative analysis

As far as the current market is concerned, Zhou says that in many cases, insurers and underwriters don’t have a defined scope or an agreed focus for the qualitative and quantitative analysis undertaken by surveyors.

“As a result, it’s not always easy to apply the findings and conclusions of risk surveys to achieve accurate underwriting decisions or transparent client communication,” he says.

“In addition, risk surveyors may take differing approaches to evaluate the same risk, leaving insureds confused or even misled. This can lead to a tendency for insureds to view the recommendations as superficial, impractical or unconvincing.” 

Creating value for customers

Zhou says that for some time, insurers have recognised the importance of consistent and competent risk engineering to create value for customers and enhance overall competitiveness.

The ANZIIF Advanced Diploma of Risk Surveying includes modules for both intermediate and advanced practitioners.

It aims to systemically introduce the Chinese insurance industry to well-recognised, global best practices for risk evaluation and mitigation and provide risk engineers with guidelines for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The course also integrates China's industry regulations and benchmarks them to international standards and best practices.

“It is not the intent of the diploma to teach students everything they need to know for undertaking a risk survey, as such skills and knowledge primarily get built on the job,” Zhou says.

“Rather, it aims to impart a framework and way of thinking for proper risk identification and evaluation so that sustained self-development can be achieved.”

Eager for new experiences

Born in the year of the rooster, Zhou grew up and received most of his primary and secondary education in Fujian, a mountainous province in southeast China, before returning home to Shanghai to finish his college education in the late 1980s.

“My primary and secondary education was accompanied by frequent home relocations and school transfers every two to three years as my parents were employed in the field of geological exploration,” he shares.

“They travelled throughout China, most of the time to rural areas, and I think that experience left me with a strong desire to see the world and have a variety of experiences,” he says.

The right side of history

Zhou’s eagerness to travel has been well fulfilled in his risk engineering career.

“The country’s economy was gearing up as part of a great era of globalisation that lasted for decades,” he says. 

“I was fortunate to participate in this historical process from the beginning and see a great part of the world as a result. I’ve visited at least a thousand places and have always been inspired by the associated challenges.”    

Zhou started his insurance career as a risk engineer in the mid-1990s. “I was working as an engineer on a green field project — one of the biggest joint ventures in China at the time — manufacturing telecommunications equipment,” he says.

Appointed as the coordinator for parties of risk management experts visiting from Singapore and Australia, Zhou became familiar with their common site inspection processes over a long period, such as checking fire protection, production operations and management programs.

“It was not until late 1996 when one of the visitors asked me if I would be interested in joining their firm that provides dedicated services for a group of insurance companies in the United States, that I got a full understanding of the mechanisms surrounding these site inspections,” he says.

“I started to appreciate the business rationale behind [risk management] arrangements in the construction industry and how insurance and risk engineering are bundled together.”

Significant and rapid change

For nearly 30 years, Zhou has held several roles in the field of insurance in different countries.

“I never feel regretful about joining the industry and making it my career,” he says.     

The field of risk management has undergone significant transformation over the years, evolving from traditional, more basic insurance and financial safeguards to a comprehensive, strategic framework that encompasses a wide array of business operations.

“Large Chinese enterprises have established sound risk management frameworks and incorporated a wide variety of risks to their enterprise risk management systems,” Zhou says, “however it is still uncommon for risk managers to be engaged in the purchase of insurance — in my mind a fundamental role for a professional to play.” 

From the perspective of insurance companies, Zhou says, offering a competent, value-added risk management service that incorporates a risk-based underwriting process is yet to be an integral part of the comprehensive customer service programs at most Chinese operations.

Delivering professional development

To that end, Zhou has worked with ANZIIF over the past decade to deliver the Advanced Diploma of Risk Surveying to a sizable pool of people in China.

“ANZIIF is a respected, key player in the business of building professionalism in the insurance industry,” Zhou says.

“By 2014, it became pretty obvious that there was a solid demand for an extensive risk engineering course to be developed and dedicated to the Chinese insurance market.”

For Zhou, the timing was perfect since he had just started working for Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance and Inspection Company (HSB), a company with nearly 160 years of expertise as a risk management service provider.

“I was delighted to join the ANZIIF business team to work on the feasibility study with key business partners in China,” he recalls.

Relevant and timely

The diploma continues to be relevant and timely. “Recently, a government directive from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) included a specific reference to the ‘risk reduction’ efforts of insurance companies,” Zhou says.

“The directive urged insurance companies to enhance their engagement with risk reduction processes and improve their structural and service capabilities in a systematic manner through collaborative efforts.

"We are seeing more intensive discussion and movement from local insurers in relation to this initiative, and we are expecting to see a positive trend towards development in the future.

“Knowledge and experience from mature markets such as ANZIIF’s forward-looking Advanced Diploma of Risk Surveying will prove very valuable.”

Find out more about the ANZIIF Advanced Diploma of Risk Surveying