A decision by Standard and Poor's ratings, to add enterpriserisk management to its criteria for positive ratings ofnon-financial companies, is a "coming of age" for ERM, a consultingfirm said.

Towers Perrin said it expects a broad range of companies willnow make ERM a standard part of business or risk ratingdowngrade.

The consultants said the S&P move indicates ERM has arrivedas a factor in the business world, which according to severalsurveys has been slow to adopt the system.

"While insurers and financial services companies have beendemonstrating ERM to the rating agencies for some time, mostnon-financial companies have not taken an enterprise approach tomanaging risk," said a statement from Prakash Shimpi, ERM practicedirector at Towers Perrin.

Mr. Shimpi said S&P's plans to include ERM in its criteria"will undoubtedly place ERM on the list of items that keep CFOsawake at night. Companies are going to be expected to takeaction."

This week Aon Global Risk Consulting issued a report that saidcompanies are slow to make use of enterprise risk management (ERM)techniques.

Aon said its survey found only one in 10 companies in theAmericas and Europe has fully integrated an ERM strategy, eventhough government regulators and corporate stakeholders aredemanding they address and mitigate enterprisewide risks.

Another survey from the Conference Board, a nonprofit businessresearch group, found among companies it surveyed that 55 percentsaid their corporate boards are a top driver of ERM programs, upfrom 49 percent two years ago, but despite that finding, theirreport said ERM is not being integrated in corporate cultures.

Towers Perrin, said it has been counseling clients on ERM formore than 50 years and uses risk analytics to define their riskthreshold within regulator and ratings agencies' criterion.