Dynamic benchmarks

One of the biggest challenges in effective risk reporting is avoiding the trap of mind-numbing routine. David Rowe argues that dynamic benchmarks and exception highlighting are ways of keeping such reports relevant and useful, thereby maintaining management’s attention

One of the biggest challenges in risk reporting is keeping the information fresh and relevant. Too often such reports become almost indistinguishable from month to month. A consequence is that they are reviewed in a cursory manner before being filed for future reference (or to demonstrate to regulators and auditors that they have been produced). Comparison of actual data with benchmarks is an essential means of providing relevant context for risk reports. Too often, however, such benchmarks are