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Why Financial Institutions Could Benefit from a Virtual CRO


Does your organization need a Virtual CRO? Here are two questions to ask yourself:

  1. Do you become distracted with your enterprise goals and begin a trajectory down one path, only to find yourself abruptly changing your course of action?
  2. Do you find yourself looking for a definitive roadmap to follow when trying to align your risk management strategies with the objectives of your organization?

When we speak with financial institutions responsible for Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), we often see these recurring challenges:

  • Small to moderate-size financial institutions without a full-time risk management resource
  • Larger financial institutions without a Chief Risk Officer (CRO) due to an unplanned event
  • Financial institutions that need bandwidth for a short-term ERM project but don’t want to hire a full-time resource
  • Financial institutions that struggle to find qualified resources that can cover all areas of risk (operational and market) with limited time and budget

These challenges can create:

  • Disconnects between risk management and strategic objectives,
  • Inefficiencies in the business process, and
  • An elevated risk of costly mistakes

Having a Virtual CRO can help you organization avoid all of these negative outcomes!

A Virtual CRO is an Immediate Fix

A vCRO is an ideal and feasible match for many organizations. Hiring one is an immediate solution that addresses the budgetary concerns of hiring a full-time resource. That’s because a Virtual CRO works for a fraction of the cost of a full-time risk professional while still remaining a trusted source of expertise. In addition, VCROs have diverse subject-matter experience and honed industry best practices. This allows them to provide expert advice at any time.

Who Benefits from a Virtual CRO?

A Virtual CRO is right for you if you:

  • Are a smaller financial institution with new risk managers;
  • Have existing risk managers needing guidance;
  • Need reviews performed on a retainer-type basis; or
  • Desire to transition to a more robust risk program (and need help getting there).