Definition:Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
🏢 Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) is a global professional association dedicated to advancing the practice of risk management, primarily serving corporate risk managers, insurance buyers, and related professionals who oversee their organizations' risk and insurance programs. Founded in 1950 in the United States, RIMS has grown into one of the most influential industry organizations connecting risk professionals with insurers, brokers, reinsurers, service providers, and insurtech innovators. Its membership spans dozens of countries, though its largest constituency remains North American risk management professionals responsible for purchasing and managing commercial insurance programs.
🔧 RIMS fulfills its mission through several core activities. Its annual conference — RISKWORLD — is one of the largest gatherings in the global insurance industry, drawing thousands of risk professionals, carriers, brokers, and vendors for education, networking, and market intelligence exchange. The organization publishes widely used benchmarking tools, including the RIMS Benchmark Survey, which provides data on insurance costs, deductible structures, and coverage patterns across industries and company sizes, giving risk managers and underwriters alike a reference point for program design. RIMS also offers professional development programs, including the RIMS-CRMP (Certified Risk Management Professional) designation, and maintains a body of knowledge covering enterprise risk management, cyber risk, climate risk, and emerging topics. Through its advocacy arm, RIMS engages with legislators and regulators on matters affecting corporate insurance buyers, such as terrorism risk insurance reauthorization and surplus lines reform.
🌐 RIMS occupies a distinctive position in the insurance value chain because it represents the buyer side — a perspective that is sometimes underrepresented in an industry where carrier and intermediary voices tend to dominate trade discussions. By organizing and empowering risk managers, RIMS helps ensure that the commercial insurance market remains responsive to policyholder needs and that risk management is recognized as a strategic function within corporations, not merely an insurance procurement exercise. For carriers and brokers, RIMS events and publications offer direct access to decision-makers and invaluable insight into how buyers evaluate coverage, select partners, and set priorities. Internationally, similar organizations exist — such as FERMA (Federation of European Risk Management Associations) in Europe, PARIMA in Asia-Pacific, and ALARYS in Latin America — but RIMS remains the largest and most broadly recognized association of its kind, and it has increasingly expanded its programming and membership outreach beyond North America.
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