Christopher E. Mandel, RIMS-CRMP, RIMS Fellow, CPCU, CCSA, ARM-E, AIC
President
Christopher Mandel writes on claims management topics for IRMI.com Expert Commentary and is a regular contributor for The Risk Report.
He is an enterprise risk management (ERM), governance, insurance, and strategic resilience executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across global corporate, financial services, insurance, risk advisory, consumer products, telecommunications, nonprofit, higher education, and professional services environments. He is recognized as a board-facing adviser and thought leader who helps complex organizations connect their risk intelligence, governance oversight, risk appetite, risk culture, operational resilience, business continuity, crisis management, insurance strategy, and enterprise performance to long-term value creation.
Mr. Mandel currently serves as president of Managing Consultant of Excellence in Risk Management, LLC, the independent risk consultancy he founded in Texas in 2004, and as assistant professor of the Practice in ERM at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He previously served as senior vice president, Strategic Solutions, for Sedgwick and as founding director of the Sedgwick Institute, where he led market-facing thought leadership, strategic product and service exploration, customer needs assessment, and industry trend analysis to support growth and innovation.
As chief risk officer and head of ERM for USAA Group, Mr. Mandel designed, developed, and led the enterprise-wide ERM strategy, integrated risk framework, operational risk model, risk and control self-assessment process, board risk reporting, crisis management partnership, and business resilience capabilities for a large, highly regulated financial services enterprise. During his tenure, S&P rated USAA "excellent" and a leader in ERM for 5 consecutive years. He also served as president and vice chairman of Enterprise Indemnity CIC, Inc., which is a multiline commercial insurance subsidiary, overseeing pricing, underwriting, actuarial, claims, finance, accounting, legal, and regulatory functions; guiding the company board; protecting and leveraging $50 million in assets; and supporting 6 lines of coverage producing more than $20 million in annual premium and $15 million in pretax income.
Earlier, Mr. Mandel directed global risk management for PepsiCo/Tricon Global Restaurants, leading the property and casualty risk portfolio for a $20 billion global restaurant enterprise with 6 major brands, more than 500,000 employees, operations in more than 100 countries, a $200 million cost of risk, and approximately 35,000 losses annually. He consolidated risk management operations, built an integrated global risk management program, improved employee injury loss rates by more than 20 percent across brands, and helped generate $50 million in savings. His career also includes risk-related leadership roles with Marsh, Liberty Mutual, Verizon, the American National Red Cross, YUM Brands, PepsiCo, USAA, Sedgwick, and other organizations.
Mr. Mandel has extensive board, advisory, executive committee, and faculty leadership experience. His current and prior governance roles include board director for Franklin Vineyard Church; executive committee member and treasurer of the Association of Responsible Alternatives to Workers' Compensation; faculty senate member at Embry-Riddle; chief risk adviser to SPR, LLC; advisory board roles with George Mason University's Chief Risk Officer Executive Development Program and other risk, insurance, governance, and higher education organizations; and president and 7-year board member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
He was named Risk Manager of the Year by RIMS, received the RIMS Goodell Award for lifetime achievement, was inducted into Risk Who's Who, and has been recognized for significant contributions to risk management excellence. He is a frequent author, instructor, and speaker on ERM; strategic resilience; board risk oversight; risk appetite; risk culture; emerging risk; risk trends driven by artificial intelligence; environmental, social, and governance issues; reputation risk; captive insurance; and organizational performance. Mr. Mandel holds a master of business administration in finance from George Mason University and a bachelor of science in business administration from Virginia Tech, along with credentials including CPCU, ARM-E, RIMS-CRMP, RF, AIC, CCSA, ISO 31000, and DCRO.
