Four tips for managing catastrophic risk

Companies are increasingly realizing that they need to have proactive plans for dealing with natural and man-made disasters, and not just react to them — or worse, assume that extreme events "won't happen to us," according to an opinion piece in CNBC by Howard Kunreuther, professor, co-director at the Wharton School's Risk Management Center.

The Wharton Risk Center asked chief risk officers and executives from 100 S&P 500 companies about their risk strategies and lessons learned. Their major messages are:

1. Recognize interdependencies in designing risk-management strategies.
2. Develop a business-continuity plan.
3. Involve the board of directors prior to the next disaster.
4. Interact with leaders from the public sector.