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Industry prepares for potential swine flu outbreak

With threat unclear, firms dust off 9/11 plans, cross-train and give out hand sanitizer

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By Liz Skinner

November 29, 2009 6:01 am ET

The financial services industry is armed with contingency plans if the swine flu begins to spread among its ranks. But for now, firms are encouraging vaccinations, educating employees on proper coughing etiquette and giving out hand sanitizer.

Brokerage and investment advisory firms are preparing for swine flu outbreaks by adapting policies and solutions designed as emergency plans after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Plans vary from sending employees home to telecommute, limiting contact between workers by spreading them around the office or even opening up emergency recovery sites, said Howard Sprow, vice president of business continuity planning for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the brokerage industry trade group.

Firms have identified critical functions and built strategies to make sure that these operations continue even if large numbers of employees fall ill. Areas of most concern include client support functions, trading tasks and other roles related to liquidity, Mr. Sprow said.

Cross-training employees in those critical areas is part of the preparation so people who fill in for sick co-workers have some knowledge and experience.

“The solutions are pretty straight-forward, but the issue for firms is, "When do you turn them on?''' Mr. Sprow said.

Swine flu, or 2009 H1N1 as it is now called, already is widespread in about 43 states. Government health officials say H1N1 has sickened about 22 million Americans, sent 98,000 to the hospital and killed 4,000 in the United States.

Health officials say that it is early in the year to have so many flu cases, pointing out that the flu season typically doesn't begin until December and lasts through May. Officials warned before Thanksgiving that increased travel and family gatherings over the holidays could further spread illness.

Curbing absenteeism

Corporate pandemic plans in the past were triggered by moves from the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both of which are publicly declaring different alert levels.

But H1N1 is dictating a more local approach to deciding when to implement steps to curb absenteeism, experts said. That judgment at most firms is falling on the shoulders of executives who are in charge of business continuity.

Andy Waples, the head of business continuity at Eaton Vance Corp., follows the medical updates about H1N1 and his firm's absentee rate daily. The asset manager saw a small spike in sick workers several weeks ago, but nothing significant enough to spark new measures, he said.

Eaton Vance already conducts exercises each quarter to prove that workers can carry out their critical functions remotely. Should the flu advance within its offices, it will consider eliminating face-to-face meetings, capping the number of people in the cafeteria and sending people home to work, Mr. Waples said.

The firm held seasonal flu vaccination clinics at its offices this year and would do the same with H1N1 shots if they became available, he said.

Citigroup Inc. and The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly received some swine flu vaccine that the firms said will be given to employees who fall into high-risk categories. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC reportedly passed vaccine along to hospitals after learning that it had received doses before medical facilities had.

Rob Ireland, a partner with Mansfield Communications Inc., said that without “containment policies,” the flu will spread quickly at firms, “and you'd hate for it to take down a whole trading floor.”

In 2003, as an executive at Hewlett-Packard Co., he helped the company through the SARS outbreak in Toronto, and now he helps other firms prepare for epidemics through a preparedness plan that he developed.

Edward D. Jones & Co. LP, which has spent a decade working on its business continuity program, has procedures in place for any type of business interruption, said spokeswoman Regina DeLuca-Imral. The firm has ensured that the home office is staffed to maintain critical business functions so that clients and branch offices would feel minimal disruption, she said.

Peter Salmon, director of operations and technology for the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry group, said that he is listening for certain words from health authorities to know when to alert firms that the pandemic is worsening.

“When you start to hear the words "sustained and efficient transmission,' that's when it has crossed a line and it's spreading rapidly,” he said.

Lou Stanasolovich, president of Legend Financial Advisors Inc., which manages about $370 million in assets, said that his firm has been fending off the flu by sanitizing phones, doorknobs and cubicles daily.

Legend Financial also gives a $75 gift card to all employees who can prove they have received a seasonal flu shot.

He will likely extend the offer to H1N1 shots if he can secure them, Mr. Stanasolovich said.

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