The Pan-Asia Risk and Insurance Management Association (PARIMA) concludes its Penang Masterclass 2026, held from 6 to 7 August, the association’s first masterclass in Penang and its first across two days. The programme combined member-led discussions and partner sessions covering data-driven decision-making, climate risk, cyber resilience and growing interdependencies across industries, with a focus on emerging risks shaping the Malaysian digital economy and the wider Asia Pacific landscape. The masterclass opened with ‘From Buying Insurance to Selling Your Risk’, led by Steve Tunstall, co-founder, director and general secretary of PARIMA, and Mohd Effendi Mohd Nawi, general manager, insurance, group risk management at Petronas. The session examined how risk managers can engage insurers more effectively through risk quality, data credibility, retention design and aligned incentives. Aon led ‘Turning Data Into Decisions: Strengthening Resilience for Assets, Liabilities, Climate and Cyber Risks’, which considered how organisations can use data and analytics to support more confident and practical decision-making. Ram Nandrajog, chief broking officer and head of financial specialities, Malaysia at Aon, says: “Risk managers used to protect value. Today, they help create it. From cyber-attacks and natural catastrophes to operational disruption and supply chain pressures, today’s top risks no longer sit in isolation.” Nandrajog adds: “As threats increasingly converge, risk and insurance managers need integrated, data-driven insight to better understand exposures, assess potential impacts and strengthen resilience. The organisations that succeed will not be those that avoid disruption, it will be those that build resilience faster than the world changes.” The afternoon session, ‘Building Resilience Across the Industries Powering Malaysia’s Digital Economy’, led by FM, examined how manufacturing, digital infrastructure and energy are shaping national growth. Donovan dos Santos, operations vice president at FM, says: “As Malaysia’s industries become increasingly interconnected, building resilience requires collaboration. Our team in Malaysia looks forward to working alongside local partners to share insights, address emerging risks and help strengthen the country’s economic and digital future.” The second day opened with ‘ENSO in Focus: Turning El Niño Signals Into Actionable Risk Decisions’, conducted by Marsh, which examined how climate patterns can influence business operations and risk exposure. Roshan Wahab, vice president and climate and sustainability consultant, Asia at Marsh, says: “El Niño is more than a climate headline; it is an actionable set of forward-looking signals risk managers can use to strengthen organisational resilience. We want to enable risk managers in turning these signals into practical decisions: improving business continuity planning, stress-testing supply chains, and acting earlier before disruption becomes loss.” The masterclass also hosted the Penang edition of the Next-Gen Risk Takers challenge, the association’s speaking competition for emerging risk professionals, which is reported separately. PARIMA is a not-for-profit organisation supporting the risk management profession across Asia Pacific, with more than 2,600 members representing more than 1,300 companies and 32 partners.
