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Aligning risk to strategy to enable commercial growth

Businesses are changing fast. Whether introducing new products, embedding digital transformation, or adjusting their capital needs, these shifts may bring structural changes — and new risks — to an organization.

05/20/2026 · 5 minute read

Businesses are changing fast. Whether introducing new products, embedding digital transformation, or adjusting their capital needs, these shifts may bring structural changes — and new risks — to an organization.

In response, risk management is also changing. Faced with multiple constraints — such as small teams, unstructured data, and leaders who consider insurance primarily as a cost — risk managers are being challenged to find ways to add value by freeing balance-sheet capacity, removing operational roadblocks, and helping leadership make better strategic decisions.

During this month’s RIMS RISKWORLD 2026, Cody Mitchell, senior vice president within Marsh’s Emerging Risks Group, Ann Marie Bitta, senior director for global risk management at Abbot Laboratories, Jason Wong, senior vice president, finance and treasurer at Claritev Corporation, and Katherine Gerber, head of energy for the Americas at AXA XL, discussed how risk managers can take actions to turn risk into an accelerator rather than a burden.

Evolve risk programs to match the company’s strategy

Unless they keep pace with rapid changes across the business, risk programs could become roadblocks instead of enablers. Many programs are built around the next renewal, focusing mainly on price. But when a business is transforming, a backward-looking approach can miss future exposures, leaving the company unprepared for evolving and emerging risks.

This challenge can be addressed through a longer-range view that shifts the conversation from what insurance should be purchased next year to what coverage is needed to make the company’s strategic objectives possible. A multi-year risk capital review tied to strategic initiatives can help capture both expected and tail scenarios.

It is also important for risk managers to be cognizant of planned shifts — whether geographic-, tariff-, or technology-related, for example — allowing them to provide better guidance on the risks that these changes may bring and recommend preemptive mitigation actions. Risk teams can speak to business owners across the organization to identify any product and market changes that could introduce new exposures or enhance existing ones.

Share information in a financially savvy format

Translating the economic value of insurance to a finance audience is one of the biggest challenge risk managers face. Many leaders want to understand the financial impact of risk, which means that risk leaders must articulate their case in terms that treasury, CFOs, and boards use — cash flow impact, balance-sheet effects, and the timing of recoveries.

To be able to tell a board-ready story, risk leaders must consider connecting their strategy with the company’s financial metrics and frame their decisions in terms of business impact. This translation enables risk managers to frame investments in cash flow and balance sheet implications, which helps bring leadership on board and changes the types of conversations risk management can have with leadership.

A data-focused approach can also help during renewals, with many carriers appreciating data-rich submissions and creative solutions. When an organization comes prepared with data and plausible structures, carriers are more likely to offer flexibility and form long-term partnerships.

Use insurance and alternative risk tools to unlock growth

When risk managers have a good grasp of planned organizational changes, they can identify potential growth-blocking operational constraints that could be minimized through risk programs.

For example, as part of a risk capital strategy engagement, interviews with a client’s stakeholders revealed that a patchwork of shipment coverages capped by low limits kept an organization from scaling distribution volumes. Marsh’s team recommended replacing that fragmented approach with a consolidated stock throughput program, which would unlock previously unavailable distribution capacity and enable twofold to threefold growth. This is a clear example that underscores how insurance program design can directly affect top-line outcomes.

Organizations can also consider that risk transfer programs offer value beyond just risk transfer, for example providing data and insights that would be otherwise unavailable. This expands the value of what risk management can offer to its stakeholders — by providing insights and information that allow the business to make better decisions.

Other solutions, such as surety bonds, can also help organizations free up balance-sheet capacity when tax incentives or traditional finances are uncertain.

In order to identify opportunities, risk managers can map the value chain and determine where insurance terms may be limiting commercial activity and pilot a targeted program redesign. After measuring the commercial impacts of the pilot, organizations can consider whether this can be expanded.

Thinking beyond immediate protection

When risk teams shift their focus from annual renewals to strategic planning, they may open new opportunities that enable risk management to become a growth enabler. This requires risk leaders to build forward-looking programs that align with strategy, translate risk into financial terms, and actively remove barriers to commercial scale.

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