Here’s the first photo of what the new Manchester United uniforms (or “kits” as the footballers call them) will look like next year.

Pretty sharp. Digging the throw-back white collars. I would probably prefer white socks though.

For those who don’t know, the English soccer powerhouse used to be sponsored by AIG, but that contract ran out and — wouldn’t you know it — AIG didn’t exactly have a ton of surplus money lying around to throw at foreign soccer teams. But based on its recent $5 billion purchase of health care consultancy Hewitt Associates, it’s pretty clear that Aon does. I did an interview with one of the company’s PR reps a few weeks ago if you want to read more about the partnership.

Additionally, here’s a video Man U put together a while back to welcome Aon to the team, so to speak.

Five years ago, Lindsay Lohan seemed poised to be the next, big starlet in Hollywood. Now, years of legal trouble have led to her being sentenced to 90 days in jail and her acting career appears to be in serious jeopardy.

Still, there have been many other improbable comebacks to the silver screen by actors who were once counted out. Look at Robert Downey, Jr.’s triumphant return as Iron Man. But a little known fact about the movie business is that the insurance that covers the financial backing put up for films can sometimes play as big a part as the actors. And if an actor becomes “uninsurable” due to erratic behavior and run-ins with the law — as Robert Downey reportedly used to be — it makes any studio think twice about committing to him or her for a role.

I recently chatted with Douglas Turk, executive vice president of the world’s leading entertainment industry insurance broker Aon/Albert G. Ruben (which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary and has insured these and many other movies), to find out if Lindsay’s time in jail will make her uninsurable for producers and just learn a little more about how the whole process works.

Jared Wade: Even before Lindsay Lohan was sentenced, studios were having trouble placing insurance on her. How about now? Will she be totally “uninsurable” once she gets out of jail?

Douglas Turk: The issue is more on assumption of risk and cost as opposed to insurability. Anything is insurable — it’s really a question of price. Producers will need to determine the cost/benefit for Lohan’s role in a production to determine if her involvement will yield a positive result even with the inevitable higher costs.

Wade: Why does Hollywood take out policies to cover actors?

Turk: For the most part, insurance is in place to protect the financing and investment of a film and to protect against the risks that could stop the production. Certain actors are considered essential elements of a film, which is saying that they are critical to the completion of a film. Without their involvement the film could not be completed. If one of the essential elements is unable to fulfill their requirements, it puts the film at risk and, eventually, the financing (debt and equity).

Wade: Generally, are policies taken out on all actors? If you become “uninsurable” does that mean you can’t work?

Turk: For most major productions, insurance covers the actors. If an actor is considered high-risk and cannot get insurance cover at a reasonable rate, a producer may still proceed with the production by retaining more of the risk themselves. It will become more difficult for actors to work, but not impossible.

Wade: Can this insurance cost become prohibitive enough that studios generally try to steer clear of “high-risk” casts? You’re essentially multiplying your risk of shooting interruptions with each problematic cast member, right?

Turk: Again, this goes back to the cost/benefit analysis of the producer and financiers. If the actor is too high-risk and costly, the producers will look to other actors to fill the roles. A group of high-risk actors may change the dynamic of the film with the financers and require re-casting if the risk is judged to be too high.

Wade: What types of triggers are insurers looking at when they make their underwriting decisions?

Turk: The underwriters have seen all the news stories and understand the history of high-risk actors, so they will proceed cautiously when reviewing the risk by asking very detailed questions about the production, location, cast and crew. Insurers will also require specific activities (risk control) that could include active participation on set to ensure that the actor fulfills his or her obligations. This would be complemented by specific exclusions on the policy as well.

Caribbean (Lesser Antilles) – The 2cm a year rate of plate convergence is enough to produce a mega-earthquake of Mw 9.0 once every 3000 years. A major loss in the Caribbean would quickly use up available reinsurance capacity.

Chile – As the only segment of the Chile-Peru Subduction Zone not to have ruptured within the last 100 years, the north Chile segment is now considered to be a region at high risk from an earthquake similar in size to the 2010 event. Following this year’s earthquake in Maule, reinsurance programs are now renewing with increases of 75% or more.

Indonesia (Sumatra) – Padang is now regarded as being at high risk from a mega-earthquake comparable to that which occurred in 1797, with a magnitude of 8.5 or more. A mega-earthquake would undoubtedly increase the price of reinsurance following a sizeable insured loss.

Japan – The South Japan Subduction Zone (Nankai Trough) has a complex pattern of three segments. The largest earthquakes rupturing along the whole subduction zone may have magnitudes up to 8.6. A mega-earthquake in this region would most likely be a market-moving event.

North America (Cascadia) – The last mega-earthquake on this subduction zone occurred 300 years ago. While the short to medium term probability of a mega-earthquake may be low, insurers should not disregard the associated risks to the cities along the coast.

After the devastation in Chile and Haiti this year, predictions like these are a valuable resource. As John Moore, head of international analytics at Aon Benfield said:

“Predicting the location of the next mega-earthquake is an inexact science but by examining the fault lines and historical precedence of earthquake activity in five of the world’s most vulnerable regions, this report sets out to assess the current risk and improve our understanding of where and when the next mega-earthquake could hit.”

Understanding when and where the next catastrophe could take place is the ultimate form of risk management.

I recently exchanged some emails with David Prosperi, Aon’s vice president of global public relations, to chat about how the sponsorship came about and how he thinks it will affect Aon’s image in the world. He also gives us his World Cup picks.

Jared: Recently valued at $1.87 billion by Forbes, Manchester United is the most valuable sports franchise in the world (much to the delight of this Red Sox fan/Yankee hater). Getting the Aon name on their jerseys is obviously huge exposure. How did this opportunity come about?

David Prosperi: The opportunity came about in 2009 when Manchester United was searching for a new global partner and shirt sponsor. Greg Case, Aon’s president and CEO, received a framed Manchester United team shirt with an invitation to be considered as the new sponsor. The team invited just a few global firms to tender for its key sponsorship. We thoroughly researched the opportunity, did our due diligence on the team, and we are very pleased that Aon was selected because we feel it is the perfect way to communicate the value we bring to people and businesses.

Jared: What was Aon’s main motivation for aligning with the soccer powerhouse?

Prosperi: We wanted a global platform that would unite our firm, help us generate new business and maximize the efficiency of our global marketing investment. Manchester United has a truly global reach, and they share our values of leadership, teamwork and a passion for excellence. Manchester United is an organization with a proven return on investment in a sponsorship relationship, and it creates the ability to directly support sales and revenue-generating efforts for our firm on a global basis — particularly in emerging markets such as China, Korea, Singapore and Brazil where the club has extremely strong brand awareness. With the #1 brand in the world’s #1 sport, Manchester United’s 333 million fans equal the total population of the U.S., Canada and Australia, and they sell more team shirts than the 32 teams in the National Football League combined.

Jared: Besides just the corporate marketing benefits, I know there is a large charity side to all of this. What types of initiatives will we see in the months and years ahead from this Aon/Man U partnership?

Prosperi: We hope everyone will see some ongoing charitable initiatives that unite our global colleagues and generate some impact in the communities in which Aon does business. On June 1, we kicked off our partnership with Manchester United by doing a charity event in Old Trafford (the team’s stadium) with a Penalty Kick Challenge that generated over $36,000 (about $1 for every global Aon colleague) to The Christie, a U.K. cancer treatment facility in Manchester that our office in Manchester has supported in the past. Around the world, Aon colleagues participated in “Aon United REDy Day” to raise money for their local charities by wearing Manchester United shirts or red clothes for the day. And on July 15, we will have “Aon United Day,” which will have our colleagues in over 120 countries participating in fundraising and volunteer activities in concert with the unveiling of the new Manchester United shirt with the Aon logo.

Jared: How does it feel to know that kids around the world – even some without TVs in developing world villages – will now see their heroes like Wayne Rooney wearing your company’s name on their chest?

Prosperi: We feel very fortunate and honored to be only the fourth shirt sponsor for Manchester United. Football is dynamic and competitive. It appeals to a global audience. It transcends cultures and people, and it brings communities together like no other sport. For example, in Asia you will see that in many countries in the region fans have taken Manchester United to their hearts in as passionate a way as the club’s domestic fans. That passion is what really attracted us to this opportunity. It also speaks to the power of the Manchester United brand. Most football fans, whether they support Manchester United or not, would agree that the club has helped spread interest in the sport around the world, particularly the English Premier League, which in turn has benefited all teams in terms of more lucrative television rights and sponsorship deals.

Jared: OK. Last question … two-parter. Who are you rooting for in the World Cup? And who do you think will win?

Prosperi: Personally, I am hoping that the U.S. team performs well. I think that Brazil is the favorite to win, with England being the sentimental favorite.

It is not surprising, then, that more than a third of risk professionals recently surveyed by Aon categorized their ERM programs as “initial/lacking and basic.” For those folks, however, Aon has some advice.

Here are the nine hallmarks of any successful ERM program.

1. Board-level commitment to ERM as a critical framework for successful decision making and driving value
2. Dedicated risk executive in a senior-level position, driving and facilitating the ERM process
3. ERM culture that encourages full engagement and accountability at all levels of the organization
4. Engagement of stakeholders in risk management strategy development and policy setting
5. Transparency of risk communication
6. Integration of financial and operational risk information into decision making
7. Use of sophisticated quantification methods to understand risk and demonstrate added value through risk management
8. Identification of new and emerging risks using internal data as well as information from external providers
9. A move from focusing on risk avoidance and mitigation to leveraging risk and risk management options that extract value

How does your program stack up?

RMM: Of all the potential risks facing an event as large as the Super Bowl, what do you feel is the number one threat on February 7?

Chris Rogers: Without a doubt, the biggest risk by far is the “lone wolf” with explosives knowledge. It is the very quiet ones, without support from any organization at the time that presents the greatest challenge, simply because there is so little possibility for detection prior to their arrival on the scene. Plus, if they have the ability to put together an IED, this combination could be very catastrophic.

RMM: Do you feel there is more potential for risk before, during or after the game?

Rogers: The highest risk would be during the game, primarily due to the fact that this is when there are the most people present and there is so much going on all over the stadium. The close second would be just prior to the start of the game when there are large crowds lining up waiting to get inside.

RMM: How are corporate sponsors and marketers managing the financial risks related to prizes and promotions?

Lori Shaw: Many corporations look to events such as the Super Bowl as a way to create impressions with consumers. Besides basic TV advertising, many look to specialized promotions and prize offerings to attract interest and support their marketing goals. This may mean offering product couponing and redemption offers to drive consumers to their brands, arranging prize trips for consumers, and oftentimes, offering the potential to win large cash prizes such as what Doritos is doing with its Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” promotion. Oftentimes, corporations will look to the Contingency Insurance market to provide unique and customized insurance products to protect their balance sheets from the volatility that these promotions can bring. Products such as overredemtion insurance, sponsorship liability, marketer’s liability, special event and travel accident coverage and prize indemnity policies can be crafted to appropriately transfer this type of potential risk.

RMM: How does the Super Bowl manage challenges such as professional liability? What types of insurance can the Super Bowl event managers and organizers obtain to protect themselves from the many potential risks that can occur during such a large event?

Shaw: Planning for large events, such as the Super Bowl, start way before the “kick off” of the game. Local organizing committees have been working months, sometimes years, ahead of a large event to make all the necessary arrangements. Insurance coverages that are contemplated may include: general liability, auto liability, property, directors and officers, terrorism, event cancellation (which can include weather related perils, communicable disease and threats of terrorism), media liability, broadcast and professional liability for things like police, EMTs, physicians, etc.

• Department of Homeland Security Fail: “Tahaya Buchanan, an American fugitive who’d been on the run for more than two years, dodging a national arrest warrant for insurance fraud, has spent her years underground gainfully employed by the Department of Homeland Security.

• Our homeland security watchdog is doing something right, however, as DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday announced a “first of its kind federal-state cybersecurity partnership” between the department and the state of Michigan. As someone who reads dozens of horrible press releases every day, I can assure you that this is one of the least informative press releases ever written (and, not for nothing, DHS could probably use some proofreaders), but the gist of this thing seems to center around some sort of collaborative IT system to uncover malware and cyberattacks — or something.

• Norway’s Risk Management Association just became the 20th FERMA member.

• An earthquake early warning system in California is possible — and may be a reality in the foreseeable future, according to new research presented yesterday at the American Geophysical Union yesterday. Best part: They’re going to call it the “ShakeAlert” system. And in related news, the USGS plans to use Twitter to gather earthquake accounts from affected citizens.

• The SEC is rethinking its earlier proposal to increase the number of surprise audits for investment advisers. “In May, the SEC proposed that investment advisers undergo a surprise audit once a year to make sure that their customers’ assets are really there … Now, the SEC is fine tuning the plan and considering not requiring the some 6,000 registered investment advisers who simply deduct fees to comply with such an exam.”

• A UK-oriented look back at the regulatory landscape of 2009 and a look forward to 2010.

• With the financial collapse bankrupting Iceland and putting once-low-risk economies like those of Greece and Latvia on the ropes, Ellen Brown looks at how even the developed world nations of the EU are now bucking IMF debt-repayment protocols. And as former fat cats like Dubai have shown, today’s global climate means that even formerly nonvolatile nations need to be given more scrutiny when it comes to credit risks. “Dozens of countries have defaulted on their debts in recent decades, the most recent being Dubai, which declared a debt moratorium on November 26, 2009. If the once lavishly-rich Arab emirate can default, more desperate countries can; and when the alternative is to destroy the local economy, it is hard to argue that they shouldn’t.”

• Chewbacca and game theory. Wookies always make good risk managers.

• The video streaming site Justin.tv is under scrutiny for its inability to prevent its users from illegally uploading copyrighted content. Ultimately, this is the same fight that has been going on regarding digital intellectual property since Napster and, later, Kazaa gave rise to widespread music piracy across college campuses in the late 90s. YouTube faced similar scrutiny and many lawsuits and, like Napster, has used the “we’re not doing anything wrong — it’s our users” defense. But where Napster (and other, more brazen sharing sites like The Pirate Bay) failed, sites like YouTube have (thus far) been able to sidestep major legal recourse by having procedures (which, if we’re being honest, are only minimally effective) that ensure the removal of content if it is reported as infringing copyright. Getting back to the main story…Now under the threat of legal action, Justin.tv told its side of the story in front of the House Judiciary Committee this morning. ”Justin.tv calls on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which they claim should provide them with a safe harbor for copyright-infringing content that appears on the website before they or the appropriate right owners get a chance to remove it … The startup states that it aims to bring live video into the mainstream much like Flickr, The Huffington Post and YouTube have done for online images, news and video clips. The question is: are they really doing everything they can to fight piracy?”

• “One in five Brits are stressed, depressed or just hungover.” According to Aon, a lot of UK employees weren’t actually sick on the day they took their last sick day.

• A list of comical legal case names, including “Batman v. Commissioner, 189 F.2d 107 (5th Cir. 1951), cert. denied 342 U.S. 877 (1951)” and “United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins, No. 05-56274 (9th Cir. Mar. 17, 2008).” More than anything, this whole thing reminds me of this guy, who is sort of a personal hero of mine.

Find an interesting link? Email me any stories, videos or images you come across and would like to see included. Or just follow me on Twitter @RiskMgmt and pass it along that way.

“One outcome might be cost-cutting in risk management, which would be unfortunate,” said Cross. “We may be dealing with a situation where you have to do more with less.”

And as anyone who has ever tried likely already knows, you can’t do more with less; you can only do less with less.

The report went into more detail:

“Perhaps the most difficult risk management issue we face amidst this turmoil is ensuring that organizations remain committed to established, effective risk management strategies. Seeking short-term gains may restrict or reduce the long-term success of risk management programs. Risk controls, for example, should not be ignored for the sake of immediate expense cutting as they are essential to long-term cost mitigation.”

Following the threat of a deeper global recession on the list of top risks came some other familiar suspects, as well as a few concerns that didn’t even register in last year’s top ten. Here’s the full breakdown.

1. Economic Slowdown
2. Regulatory/Legislative Change
3. Business Interruption
4. Increasing Competition
5. Commodity Price Risk 
6. Damage to Reputation
7. Cash Flow/Liquidity Risk
8. Distribution or Supply Chain Failure
9. Third Party Liability
10. Failure to Attract or Retain Top Talent

In addition to tallying these results, Aon also asked companies how prepared they were for each of these risks. Shockingly, 60% said they were ready for the economic slowdown — something that sounded particularly dubious to Cross. “I was very surprised to see that 60% of people reported they were prepared for the economic slowdown because I’ve yet to meet this 60%,” said Cross. “If Warren Buffet lost $16 billion personally, I don’t know where these 60% of people are.”

To me, the realities of the economic slowdown are undeniable and even the most optimistic of economists seem to put the global recovery coming no sooner than early 2010. The inevitable and likely-soon-coming regulatory backlash from the financial sector meltdown, however, seems even more unpredictable. After AIG’s bonusgate plus the general populist outrage against everything from banks to carmakers, who really knows what Congress is going to draft?

Cross aptly summed up this fear. “It’s possible that the reaction may be over-reation.” Or as the report termed it:

“In the wake of the global economic crisis, an increase in regulation within the financial sector is widely anticipated; however, it is still unclear whether more stringent regulation will expand to other industry sectors. For multinationals, the cost, quantity and complexity of regulations presents serious challenges in terms of managing compliance with regulatory risks.” 

Cross’ co-panelist Theresa Bourdon, who serves as Group Managing Director of the Americas for Aon Global Risk Consulting, raised another interesting concern. “The risks for companies is the inability to comply with these regulations, ” she said. “If you don’t comply, the penalties can be severe…More importantly, there is a lack of market share and reputation.”

The panelists went on to discuss the new realities of supply chain risk and some emerging issues reported in business interruption. For even more info, read the full report.

And in other Aon-related news, you can also check out all the company’s RIMS 2009 events and activities over at its “Client World” website where the company is providing real-time updates from Orlando. You can also follow Aon live at RIMS 2009 on Twitter at @AonCorp.

More than 100 RIMS attendees helped clean up Give Kids the World Village at the Aon-sponsored RIMS Community Service Day on Sunday, April 19.