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17 Jul, 2024

CRO Council Hosts CRO Roundtable: Diversity in Risk Management Webinar

On July 17, 2024, the North American Chief Risk Officer Council held a webinar about diversity in risk management. It included perspectives from a panel of industry experts, and will focus on the important role diversity, equity, and inclusion plays in maintaining a positive working environment and its impact on risk management.
 

 

 

 

 
 

MODERATOR

Alessandro Papa | Chief Risk Officer at Pacific Life

Mr. Papa serves as chief risk officer at Pacific Life and oversees the company’s risk management framework and corporate actuarial function. He is responsible for the maintenance and execution of the company’s risk strategy, governance activities as chair of the Enterprise Risk Committee, and is an active participant in the Board Audit and Investment & Finance Committees.

Prior to joining Pacific Life in May 2020, Mr. Papa served as chief of staff to the president and chief executive officer at MetLife, Inc. and was responsible for driving major strategic initiatives and managing MetLife’s Reinvestment fund. Previously, he served as head of Insurance and Product Risk Management where he oversaw actuarial assumptions and pricing for major products, as well as the development of insurance risk analytics within Global Risk Management. As U.S. chief risk officer for MetLife, he was responsible for risk oversight of all U.S. business and MetLife Holding operations. He was also a member of company’s U.S. business senior leadership team. 

 

 

PANELISTS

Sarah Williams | Chief Risk Officer at Guardian

Sarah Williams is Chief Risk Officer at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian). In this capacity, she oversees all aspects of the company’s enterprise risk function, including investment risk, derivatives use and governance, and operational risk. Williams also oversees Guardian’s enterprise risk appetite and serves as the chair of the Corporate Risk Management Committee. 

Williams has worked in the insurance industry since 2000. She joined Guardian in 2022 from Global Atlantic Financial Group, where she was Deputy Chief Risk Officer.  Prior to that, she worked at MassMutual as Vice President of Global Capital Risk, leading the company’s assessment of international capital standards. Williams also spent ten years of her career at The Hartford in a variety of finance, actuarial and risk roles, most recently as Vice President of Risk Analytics and Governance. Williams started her professional career as an auditor at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.

 

 

 

 

Julia Zhang | Chief Risk Officer for Equitable Holdings

Julia Zhang is Equitable's Chief Risk Officer and member of the company’s Management Committee.

Previously, Zhang acted as Group Treasurer for Equitable Holdings, where she oversaw the company’s capital and liquidity management, dividend and funding strategy, and banking and rating agency relationships. She also serves as a board of director and Chief Financial Officer for multiple Equitable Holdings subsidiaries and is a member of the company’s Capital and Liquidity, Hedging and Investment and Risk steering committees. Amongst her many accomplishments are helping to establish Equitable Holdings’ capital management strategy, hedging, spread lending program and corporate debt programs. During her leadership tenure, Equitable have received credit rating upgrades from both Moody's and S&P.

Zhang began her career at Equitable in 2007 on the company’s derivatives and hedging team. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics and Finance from the University of Science and Technology of China and a Master of Arts degree in Mathematics of Finance from Columbia University. Zhang is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA).

 

 

 

Krista Christensen | Service Center BU Chief Risk Officer at Principal Financial Group

Krista Christensen is the Chief Risk Officer for the Service Center Business Units (enterprise functions) at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, IA. She joined the company in 2020 and is responsible for the framework and oversight of strategic and operational risks across the enterprise functions, including the global services operations. She is also responsible for the enterprise-wide risk assessment function.

Prior to joining Principal, she was at Wells Fargo for 5 years. She most recently served as a business control senior vice president responsible for developing and leading risk strategies and control design within global HR functions. She also led an enterprise risk transformation workstream in designing the 1st and 2nd line risk capabilities and operating model across Wells Fargo. She spent nearly 13 years at Citi. She held several risk leadership roles including a control and compliance senior vice president role where she was responsible for designing and leading the global HR recruiting compliance and risk control programs. She also held various senior talent acquisition leadership roles.

Krista earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Iowa State University.  She resides in West Des Moines, IA with her husband and two kids.
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