Prudent risk management (also known as strategic risk management) isn’t about minimizing or avoiding risk. It’s about understanding risk clearly, comprehensively, and in context. That’s a lesson I learned during my decades as a bank regulator, and it continues to resonate today.
In recent testimony before Congress, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould underscored an important point: our economy depends on financial institutions (FIs) engaging in prudent risk-taking. But here’s the catch — prudent decisions are only possible when financial institutions have a clear understanding of risk.
You can’t manage risk if you haven’t measured it.
You can’t evaluate opportunities if you haven’t evaluated exposure.
Prudent risk management means using risk insight to inform smart, strategic decisions. And that starts with a clear view of your current position across the entire risk landscape.
As a bank regulator, I saw many institutions confuse prudence with caution. They aimed to minimize risk at all costs. The truth is that trying to avoid risk entirely leads to missed opportunities — and missed growth. As Ncontracts founder and CEO Michael Berman notes in The Upside of Risk, “The goal of risk management isn’t to eliminate risk. It’s to understand it.”
The real challenge is building the capabilities to evaluate and manage risk holistically. That includes strategic risk, which is often the least visible and most overlooked.
Strategic risk shows up when an institution:
What’s one of the most common blind spots I’ve seen? Institutions rarely take time during periods of growth to ask the tough questions:
Without this kind of reflection, growth can become an unmanaged risk.
Related: The Life of a Strategic Risk Manager: The problem of manual processes
Strategic risk management isn’t just about checking a regulatory box. It’s about making better business decisions.
Institutions that truly understand their risk posture can act with confidence. They seize opportunities while avoiding costly missteps, adapt more quickly, and innovate more responsibly.
When risk is managed in silos, leadership lacks a complete view. However, everything changes when strategic, operational, compliance, and third-party risks are integrated and visible. Strategy becomes grounded. Decisions become clearer. Execution becomes stronger.
Here are a few key questions every institution should be asking:
Related: Are Silos Stunting Your Risk Management Efforts?
Prudent risk-taking requires a starting point. Without a baseline understanding of current risks, institutions are left to rely on instinct, which is not sustainable in a fast-moving financial landscape.
With the right systems, data, and structure, financial institutions can confidently weigh risk against opportunity. That’s how innovation thrives, and that’s how institutions grow without losing control.
To evolve from reactive to strategic, institutions should focus on these key practices:
Related: 6 Silo-Busting ERM Tips
True prudence isn’t about saying “no” to risk. It’s about the clarity to say “yes” to the right opportunities. It’s about understanding where you’re starting from and using that insight to guide your journey.
Because in today’s environment, knowledge isn’t just power — it’s the key to making risk-informed, strategic decisions.
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