Risks that worry mid-sized companies
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Sep 2022
Financial, digital, business interruption and pandemic concerns top the list of macro risks for mid-sized company leaders. Concerns about risks related to climate change have increased significantly in 2022 as compared to 2020 but it still ranks as the least concerning risk, according to a new report.
The second edition of QBE Insurance’s mid-sized company risk report discusses the macro and micro risks that most concern mid-sized company executives, whether companies have risk management plans in place to address each of these risks, and their top needs for reducing their risk exposure.
When analysing the specific risks, or micro risks, within the macro concerns, employee-related issues emerge as a common theme. Six of the top 10 micro risks identified by business leaders involve employees: fraud/theft, cybersecurity concerns related to working from home, attracting and retaining talent, accidents and health issues, organisation performance, and internal bias/lack of a diversity framework.
The report found that COVID is still very much on business leaders’ minds as a top risk, but even after spending 18 months in a global pandemic, fewer than half (46%) of companies surveyed have a mitigation strategy for pandemic-associated risks.
Concern about climate change have grown significantly as a macro concern since 2020. The research showed that concern about behavioural change and pressure from eco-friendly stakeholders has increased significantly. However, climate change is at the bottom of list of concerns and is also the least likely to have a mitigation strategy.
There was a general rise overall in business interruption concerns in 2021, with fragile supply chain risks and facility shutdowns identified as the top micro risks within this category. M