Risk Management

A former Enron Corp. risk manager testified Tuesday that he was pushed out of a key assignment at the energy trading company because he objected to what he believed were questionable financial maneuverings. Wincenty "Vince" Kaminski said Jeffrey K. Skilling, then Enron's president, called him in July 1999 to say that Kaminski and his team of analysts were being transferred.

BE AFRAID. Be very afraid. That's the message we Americans receive daily from everyone from government officials to newscasters, environmentalists and corporate marketers. Let's face it: like sex, fear sells. But has hyperactive fear-mongering become corrosive to American society? That's what a growing number of social critics and sociologists are concluding. In a nation so proud of its pioneering spirit, the culture of precaution, they say, is turning us into a bunch of chickens.

As baby boomers age, they should increasingly seek safety and income in their investment strategies. At least, they should if they want to avoid disappointing Wall Street, which is largely convinced that boomers will do the conservative thing and begin tilting their portfolios toward capital preservation and away from capital appreciation.

By most conventional measures, Paul Fredo is an American success story. The son of a coal miner, he made almost $200,000 in the last year, enough to place him in the top 2% of wage earners. As a financial manager for the U.S. unit of Alstom, the French bullet-train maker, he has lived an expense-account life, spending most nights in hotels and jetting to meetings in Washington and Paris.

Giuliani Partners, a risk management firm run by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, said it is working with bond investment firm MatlinPatterson Global Advisors on corporate governance issues at ailing WorldCom Inc. MCI parent WorldCom, driven into bankruptcy protection in July by accounting misstatements that total more than $9 billion, appointed former Hewlett-Packard Co. President Michael Capellas as chairman and chief executive Friday.

Yields on two-year and five-year Treasury notes plunged Tuesday to their lowest levels in a generation, as more investors rushed into government bonds amid the stock market's continuing slump. But as returns on Treasury securities dwindle, many experts warn that investors may be underestimating the risks. The concern isn't about the safety of interest payments or principal repayment, because there's no question the government will make good on what it owes.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the creation of a risk-management bureau run by a new deputy police chief charged with tracking officers and identifying those with consistent disciplinary problems. But in a move that put them at odds with the Los Angeles Police Commission, council members said final authority over the bureau should belong to a steering committee run by representatives of Mayor James K. Hahn and the council.

In the era of anthrax and suicide hijackers, how much safety can society afford? With the nation facing unprecedented terrorist threats, the initial instinct in Washington has been to rush resources and fresh initiatives at every newly identified target, almost regardless of cost. But as government scrambles to stiffen airport security, tighten surveillance of immigrants, sterilize the torrent of mail the U.S.

I have been asked to speak Tuesday at the 22nd annual Risk Management Conference in Orange County, a welcome change from being told so often to shut up. But enough about my wife. I would think if you wanted someone to speak about risk management, though, you would invite the guy who hired me, but I'm told organizers just took it for granted he had already been dismissed. They said they initially thought about inviting someone from the Mighty Ducks, but as you know they don't attract a crowd.