Rough Notes Company, Inc.
April 2018—reprinted with permission.
By Christopher W. Cook
Hop in the truck—let’s discuss the Certified Risk Manager designation
Once again, I could be wrong with my alternative acronym. There just might be some insurance professionals who are country rock musicians. Let me know if you know any. So put some Alabama on the boombox and put your boots on; we’ll start with our recap paragraph because this is how we roll.
For over two decades, The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research has provided risk management education with the Certified Risk Manager (CRM) program. The five courses offered in the program are: Principles of Risk Management, Analysis of Risk, Control of Risk, Financing of Risk, and Practice of Risk Management.
The designation can be earned by completing all five courses and passing the corresponding exams within five years after finishing—and passing—the first course. The classes can be completed in either a traditional classroom setting—each course is two and a half days of instruction, followed by the exam—or in an instructor-led online classroom, which includes two weekly webinars for five weeks.
Derek Rogers, CRM, a sales executive at Shepherd Insurance’s Greenfield, Indiana, location, earned risk management and insurance and business administration degrees from Ball State University; he completed his CRM designation in 2016.
“Ball State’s Risk Management and Insurance program requires you to take the Principles of Risk Management and Control of Risk courses as part of the degree’s requirements,” says Rogers. “These courses were taught by Ball State professors within the Risk Management and Insurance Department. After graduation, I took some time off from continuing the designation while beginning my career at Shepherd Insurance. I began taking the courses again in 2014, completing one course a year in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.”
There are multiple ways of achieving the designation, so try out the different platforms and see for yourself which is the best for you.—Leah Lupu, Producer Duclos Insurance Agency
Leah Lupu, AINS, CAWC, CRM, CIC, a producer at Duclos Insurance Agency in Saginaw, Michigan, completed her designation in 2017 and, like Rogers, began taking CRM courses while still in school.
“I started the designation in 2015 during my senior year at Olivet College through The National Alliance’s University Program,” says Lupu. “During my fall semester I was able to complete the Principles of Insurance and Control of Risk modules. By passing these two, I achieved the University Associate Certified Risk Manager (UACRM) designation, leaving me to complete the remaining modules after graduation.”
Lupu also enrolled in and passed the Life and Health and Agency Management courses toward her Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation through the University Program, earning the University Associate Certified Insurance Counselor (UACIC) designation.
“After I started my professional career after college graduation, I enrolled in modules to complete my CRM and CIC,” Lupu continues. “Upon graduating high school I had attained the Associate in General Insurance (AINS) designation, and I finished the Certified Authority on Workers’ Compensation (CAWC) designation during my final semester at Olivet.”
For more information: The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research
