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Risk Management Students Contribute to Deloitte-Arkley Report

Risk Management Students Contribute to Deloitte-Arkley Report

The hands-on learning opportunity with industry leaders found that S&P 500 companies are reporting more risk factors versus limiting their statements.

by: Julie Tilsner
02.22.23
Color photograph of two USC Marshall students walking on campus.

Katherine Hoang '23 and Owen Ticer '24.

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  • Kristen Jaconi

    Kristen Jaconi
    • Executive Director Peter Arkley Institute for Risk Management
    • Full Professor of the Practice of Accounting

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As a former competitive chess player, Katherine Hoang ’23 is accustomed to thinking strategically. This tendency proved useful when she enrolled in ACCT 380 — the intro to enterprise risk management class taught by KRISTEN JACONI, professor of the practice of accounting and executive director of the PETER ARKLEY INSTITUTE FOR RISK MANAGEMENT.

“Learning risk offered me a new look into businesses and their environment,” she said. “Like my chess days, it allowed me to approach any situation having thought through many potential risks as well as constantly analyzing potential strategies to mitigate or minimize those risks.”

Hoang is among a group of risk management students who have been helping the Arkley Institute research a series of reports with Deloitte. “It was fascinating to see how risk is impacting real businesses in real life,” she said. “These skills, along with many others, are extremely transferrable to many aspects of life.” Hoang will be joining EY’s Business Transformation team in New York City in the fall.

“Parsing through hundreds of risk factors in annual reports provides an opportunity for students to understand the risk-accretive environment public companies are facing. This research for the Deloitte-Arkley Report sets a solid foundation for these students to launch a career in risk management.”

— Kristen Jaconi

Professor of the Practice of Accounting

Executive Director, Peter Arkley Institute for Risk Management

Hands-On Learning

In addition to networking directly with industry professionals, some students in Jaconi’s classes have been conducting research with Deloitte. This year’s Deloitte-Arkley report — the third published — examined whether S&P 500 companies were limiting their risk factor statements in their annual report, per SEC guidance, and found, instead, that companies are reporting more risk factors.

“The significant growth in new stand-alone climate risk factor disclosures across all sectors of the S&P 500 provides the most striking data point in the report,” said Jaconi. “The mounting pressure from a variety of stakeholders — regulators, policymakers, shareholders, consumers, employees — aiming to understand the climate risks these companies face is likely compelling these disclosures.”

Read the full report HERE.

For Owen Ticer ’24, the research project presented an opportunity to dive deeper into risk management and consider potential careers in the risk field.

“It was really helpful because I was able to see the kinds of risks companies are looking at,” he said. “And even though the SEC is guiding companies to limit their risk factor disclosures, in fact we found that most companies are having to increase theirs. That’s how important risk management is to a company.”

As a first-generation college student, his penchant for problem-solving initially led him to USC for public policy at the PRICE SCHOOL. But a chance class with Jaconi changed his career interest.

Ticer will be interning this summer at AIG in the financial lines division. He is pleased to have stumbled into the field, which enables him to solve problems and help people. He is particularly grateful for the robust professional development and networking opportunities.

And demand for risk management talent is growing, he notes. “There seems to be a lot of demand from every company, and the insurance industry is having to take on a lot, creating new insurance products, such as cyber insurance,” he said.

For her part, Jaconi believes the students’ research can be as critical as the courses, the professional networking, and the internships.

“Parsing through hundreds of risk factors in annual reports provides an opportunity for students to understand the risk-accretive environment public companies are facing. This research for the Deloitte-Arkley Report sets a solid foundation for these students to launch a career in risk management,” she said.

“It was fascinating to see how risk is impacting real businesses in real life. These skills, along with many others, are extremely transferrable to many aspects of life.”

— Katherine Hoang '23

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