CEO Insights Magazine

When any company is started by some entrepreneur or businessman, they always dream of taking their business to the next level in terms of scalability as well as profitability. Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (Cahya Mata) venturedas a mere cement manufacturing company, today after decades of hard work has successfully diversified into the manufacturing and trading of Cement and Construction Materials, Construction, Road Maintenance, Township, Property and Infrastructure Development, Education, and Financial Services. A large setup comes with huge risks as well and to minimize the risk of its facilities, the company  appointed Ramesh Ramankutty as the Chief Risk Officer.

Ramesh Ramankutty started his professional journey working as a Commercial Banker and later became an Investment Banker & VP at JP Morgan. After his stint with JP Morgan, he realized that he is more interested in Risk Management & Business Continuity Management. That is how in the year 2001, he joined Genting Group as a Head of Risk Management and worked for almost 15 years. He has also worked with NagaWorld, the leading gaming, and hospitality company in Cambodia as the Head of Risk. Skilled in Enterprise Risk Management, Project Risk Management, and more, he has been helping big conglomerates to operate in risk-free environments.

Ramesh Ramankutty engages in an exclusive interaction with the CEO Insights Asia Magazine.

Tell us about the challenges you have encountered and how you find those experiences beneficial in your journey so far.

What is your success mantra? In my 20+ years of professional career as a Risk professional, I believe the challenges are more about mindset and corporate culture on risk awareness, the buy-in at the management level, and the tone at the top. My 15-year tenure with Genting Group from, from where I began my Risk career was a good training ground, as it enabled me to experiment with the different approaches to implementing risk management across a diverse group operating in Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, the US, China, India, and Indonesia. The experience came in handy in my subsequent move to Nagaworld and now to Cahya Mata.

I would like to say that a combination of the carrot and stick approach is needed to achieve the desired objectives and I guess that is my success mantra.

Tell us about your contribution in scaling growth for Cahya Mata?

When I came on board as the CRO, one of my key objectives was to establish sound and pragmatic risk policies to be embedded within Cahya Mata’s investment strategy and growth aspirations to be the best of its class. It is only with a good balance of

risk management that an organisation can be truly wholesome to ensure the organisation’s growth is sustainable and all key stakeholders' interests are adequately safeguarded. By strongly advocating embracing risk management within the organisation, the risk framework could then be embedded to the investment and project execution processes as well as in the standard operating procedures. With a systematic approach towards managing risk, this has translated into achieving the organisation's investment and project execution objectives as well as enhanced business operational efficiency, all of which will have a positive impact on business growth. Ramesh Ramankutty Chief Risk Officer Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad Ramesh Ramankutty having completed his diploma in accounting from Stamford College is a Certified Risk Professional and Certified Professional Risk Manager. He has also pursed his Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Derby. He started his journey by becoming a commercial banker and today, he is the Chief Risk Officer at Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad.

As the Chief Risk Officer, what are the areas you look into to identify and assess risks to the organization’s assets, reputation, and other interests?

 How do you build and implement effective risk management strategies? As the CRO, my role is to work with the senior leadership and the heads of the business divisions to establish a comprehensive risk management framework to identify and manage risks at the enterprise and operational levels as well as on project execution. Apart from adopting the principles from renowned standards such as the ISO 31000 Risk Management and COSO framework, the experience, and knowledge that I had gathered from my previous stints in Genting and Nagaworld proved useful. Furthermore, I ensure that there is ongoing continuous professional development to enhance risk management knowledge which will then be translated to reviewing and improving risk management strategies and processes.

What are the traits that best describe your leadership style and what strategies do you use to keep your team motivated?

 My management style would be more transformational as institutionalizing risk management to a great extent requires a proactive approach. To keep my team motivated, I meet my team monthly and apart from discussing risk matters, I also share my thoughts and experiences.

What is the future destination you are heading towards?

At this point in time, I have yet to think about what my next move will be as I am much more focused on achieving my objectives in Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad.

Ramesh Ramankutty Chief Risk Officer

Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad Ramesh Ramankutty having completed his diploma in accounting from Stamford College is a Certified Risk Professional and Certified Professional Risk Manager. He has also pursed his Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Derby. He started his journey by becoming a commercial banker and today, he is the Chief Risk Officer at Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad.

Hobbies: Movies, Music, & Golfing

Favourite Cuisine: South Indian

Favourite Book: Espionage & political thriller fiction novels

Favourite Travel Destination: Switzerland