Having recently won the CISI’s inaugural annual Risk Professional Award, Kerry Anyim is riding high.
“I have only been a member of the CISI since last year, and initially I was flattered to even be nominated for the award,” she says. “Winning the award itself has been such a positive experience.”
Her evident modesty does little to mask a considerable list of successes and responsibilities in her current role as Head of Operational Risk at Schroders in London, where she oversees a team of five. The department’s work encompasses risk assessments (including departments, processes, products, and complex clients), managing the group’s policy framework and looking at significant risk events, be it a profit or a loss.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kerry’s grounding in these skills was at the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Having graduated from Nottingham University with a degree in economics in 2002, she won a place on the regulator’s graduate trainee scheme. It was there that she gained insights into banking, investment banking, asset management and insurance, and developed her passion for operational risk. “I learned so much on the graduate scheme at the FSA,” she says with considerable enthusiasm. “It really shaped my career.”
Part of that shaping came in 2005 when she was seconded to Newton Investment Management, a small asset manager based in the City of London. “Getting to work closely with a wealth manager really inspired me and opened my eyes to that side of financial services.” The experience prompted her to move into the commercial world and, following a brief stint back at the FSA, she joined Schroders in 2006.
Much of Kerry’s team’s work is qualitative and involves a significant degree of interaction and dialogue with colleagues across the business. “When I recruit for a role, I look for someone who is strong mathematically, of course,” she explains. “It’s more important, though, that the person has the ability to interact well with others and to deliver important messages.”
Someone in Kerry’s position requires an attitude that encourages the sharing of information, and this is something she achieves operationally and personally. In terms of the former, she established an Operational Risk Forum within Schroders with a view to formally providing information to key staff members about aspects of risk.
On a personal level, she says that being approachable and cheerful with colleagues means they are more likely to give her a heads up on issues that need addressing quickly, making it that bit easier to do her job well.
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janice.warman@wardour.co.uk