Biography

Rod is currently the Head of the Operational Risk Program at Securian Financial Group in St Paul, Minnesota, a Fortune 500 financial services firm.   He is responsible for leading strategy for all Operational Risk program elements and enabling risk informed decisions across the company.  He has spoken on ERM and Operational Risk topics locally.  Before joining Securian Financial, Rod was the Director at Principal Financial Group with 30 years of experience in various risk functions such as integrated risk management, SOX, operational risk, financial reporting, etc. and led several financial and risk teams.   Rod has volunteered with the IASA, industry and community organizations for over 20 years.  He has bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Psychology from the Central University of Iowa and is a licensed CPA, FLMI, HIA and ACS.  Rod lives in Pella, IA with his wife Sheryl.  They have two sons.

Position Statement

Hello, I am Rod Van Genderen.  I am currently the Head of Operational Risk Management at Securian Financial, a Fortune 500 company.  I have been in the financial services/insurance industry for over 30 years focusing on strategy, accounting and risk management.   I have served on multiple Boards in the past.  I am passionate about continuing to grow IASA’s positive impact to the industry and I will focus on this through the following:

• Inspiring trust
• Constant learning
• Making connections

Change encompasses every aspect of our industry.  From client expectations to AI to how to deliver top tier service to managing risk.   We need to focus on effectively anticipating, identifying and adapting to risks TOGETHER (i.e. help customers increase their personal risk awareness and our company risk quantification).   How do we do this?   Educate ourselves, our clients/customers and our peers/coworkers.   Elevate our skill set.   Network and share knowledge with each other through making active and frequent connections.  IASA can help achieve these outcomes!  What is critical is as an insurance industry we continue to be there for our customers, many times when they may be having one of the worst days of their lives (life, home, auto, medical, key person, etc.).  We are critical to hundreds of millions of people around the world.  We do this by delivering on our promises to be there every day for our customers (inspire trust – service, financial strength, caring, ethical).  I look forward to continuing to partner with each of you to achieve these through the IASA!