Effect of Enterprise Risk Management on the Profitability of Insurance Companies in Nigeria

Nigeria's insurance industry, despite contributing less than 1% to Nigeria's GDP, is considered crucial to the economy as it controls large sums of money and protects businesses from diverse risks. However, concerned about business failures in the insurance industry, the National Insurance Commission in 2012, mandated the adoption of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) by all insurance businesses in Nigeria to address this issue and to deter future business failures. This research work studied the effect of ERM on the profitability of Nigerian insurance businesses over a 10-year period, encompassing the two years prior to, and eight years following the introduction of ERM. ERM is studied from two perspectives: ERM adoption and ERM implementation. Profitability, the dependent variable was measured by Return on Assets while ERM adoption was measured using Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and Board Risk Committee Composition (BRCC. Enterprise Risk Management Index (ERMI) measured ERM implementation. Firm Size (F. SIZE) represented by Total Assets and Firm Age (F.AGE), represented by total years of operations, served as control variables. Using the expo-facto research design and the census sampling technique, relevant secondary data about all 37 insurance companies that were in operation during the study period (2010 – 2019) was collected from published financial statements and the regulator’s reports. The multiple regression analysis revealed that while CRO and BRCC contributed positively to ROA but not at a statistically significant level, ERMI had a negative effect on ROA. The research confirms that ERM adoption only is not sufficient to influence profitability. For better results from ERM, an industry-wide review of implementation practices by NAICOM is recommended.