Vice president, global risk management
Kimberly-Clark
Neenah, WI
After starting his career in law enforcement, Ray Van Eperen joined consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 1991 and has served in various risk management positions at the company ever since. In his current role as VP of global risk management, Van Eperen is responsible for designing Kimberly- Clark’s risk strategy and implementing effective mitigation measures to protect its physical, financial and human assets while shouldering a reasonable amount of risk.
In 2009, Van Eperen and his team shifted their focus to enterprise risk management while maintaining their strategies for loss prevention and property & casualty risks. “Years ago, many risk management teams just focused on insurance placements, claims handling and loss prevention,” he says, “but over time, companies recognized the values and the need to move into enterprise risk management.”
According to Van Eperen, Kimberly-Clark, like many global corporations, faces a seemingly endless number of risk issues, but two stick out as primary concerns for this year. “We have global operations in 37 countries, so we have a constant need to track global currency fluctuations and geopolitical risks,” he says. “Emerging risks also stand out as a main concern. I am a big advocate of risk management teams needing to be on the cutting edge of managing emerging risks because they directly impact the business. If you can be proactive in analyzing those risks, it can help you create mitigation plans that lessen the impact.”
Passionate about training the next generation of risk professionals, Van Eperen and his team maintain the company’s partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s business school by regularly conducting presentations for the students and sharing insights on how the company works to mitigate and leverage risks.
