Winners of the Risk Management Professional of the Year

September 16, 2015

Joint winners of the Risk Management Professional of the Year announced

Wellington’s Fiona Cameron and Christchurch’s Jacqueline Lyttle were last night been named joint winners of RiskNZ’s Risk Management Professional of the Year award.

Their achievements relate to risk management activity in New Zealand and the joint award recognises two people who have made significant achievements in their risk management roles with outstanding qualities.

Cameron is the financial controller, group treasurer and risk manager for Infratil and Morrison and Co. During her time with Infratil she has elevated the profile of risk and improved the reporting and consideration of risk across Infratil’s diverse range of subsidiaries. She has led the development of a strong risk management culture where risk is at the forefront of consideration for both operational issues and strategic objectives.

Her successes include mentoring of colleagues and leading risk management activities at subsidiary companies to help embed risk management processes. Cameron has overseen the enhancement of the group’s externally provided risk reporting tool to provide information on risk to support decision making at management and board level and to provide a global view of the group’s risks. Even minority interest subsidiaries have sought Fiona’s help to develop appropriate risk management programmes.

As the group treasurer, Cameron has other specialist risk responsibilities including the management of refinancing risk, acquisition financing and settlement risks. A recent period of acquisition and divestment activities at Infratil have required highly developed financing capabilities. She is responsible for the management of Infratril’s own $1billion retail bond programme and $233 million of Perpetual bonds.

The chair of Infratil’s audit and risk committee endorsed Cameron’s nomination saying she provides invaluable help to evaluate and discuss risk subsidiary by subsidiary and on a group wide consistent basis. She has an in-depth understanding of the various businesses and a deep understanding of the key drivers of business performance.

RiskNZ chief executive Tim Jago says Cameron is a highly competent and capable risk manager who has driven the development of risk management throughout the group providing highly sought after risk management advice and support and continues to ensure that the group’s risk management practices are always developing and adjusting to the ever changing business environment.

Lyttle is the senior risk and insurance advisor at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. She initiated and championed the implementation of the university’s risk management framework and has consistently and professionally raised the profile of risk management to the point that the senior management team now considers risk in every aspect of the university’s activity. She provides advice and regular briefings on risk management matters at all levels of the University and provides essential information on risk to the audit and risk committee.

Jago says Lyttle has been instrumental in the development of the university’s emergency response plan and emergency management structures that played such an instrumental part in minimising the earthquake disruption to the university in 2011. She has led a number of real time response exercises to help enhance the preparedness of business continuity processes. Two publications co-authored by her and her numerous presentations nationally and internationally have shared the lessons learned from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and provided valuable guidance to the international university community.

She oversaw the negotiation of the university’s earthquake insurance claims, one of the largest settlements in New Zealand history. She has introduced a travel management process to track university staff and students who travel to areas of concern so that the university can quickly identify and assist staff or students who may be affected when an event occurs.

University vice-chancellor Rod Carr endorsed Lyttle’s nomination saying the university has been able to mitigate the impact of a range of adverse events as a result of the work of the risk management team of which Lyttle is the cornerstone. She has managed to bring about significant and sustained change in strategic and operational risk matters and is recognised as a thought leader in a challenging environment.

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