Editor's letter

As the sorry saga of Refco's bankruptcy plays out, a collective gasp of disbelief can still be heard. It's not just the unfortunate investors directly affected that are shocked - everyone in the industry is asking how this could have happened.

Surely in this post-Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley world it was now safe to go back into the water ...?

Instead, alarming questions have been raised about how millions of dollars of losses could remain undetected for so many years, and, inevitably, wider fears have also resurfaced about the riskiness of derivatives trading in less regulated markets.

While none of this will have helped the reputation of the risk management industry, the good news is that it is further evidence of the absolute necessity of the risk manager to an organisation.

And here we finally seem to have reached a watershed - particularly in companies heavily exposed to energy prices. This issue brings you the results of our energy risk management survey, where the 150 respondents told us overwhelmingly they feel risk management is finally firmly on the boardroom agenda.

However, you tell us that there is still a long way to go in the education of management to the daily challenges of risk management.

Covering everything from internal challenges to what you consider are the greatest external risks facing the energy industry and markets today, we found the survey results fascinating reading - we're sure you will as well.