More than 71 percent of risk managers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have more influence that they did three years ago, according to a survey from ACE.
The results of ACE’s survey of 500 companies were detailed in The Changing Role of the Risk Manager, which showed that influence is increasing most significantly in the areas of strategic decision making (78 percent), digital technology and social media (76 percent), and supplier and business partner selection (73 percent).
Some 35 percent of risk managers said their increased influence is driven by technological change, 29 percent by economic volatility and 27 percent by business complexity.
Technology is also a source of worry for many risk managers, who named technology risk as their top concern in the ACE Emerging Risks Barometer 2015.
As the result of dramatic changes in the external environment, risk managers acknowledged the need for a new set of skills and tools. Almost 80 percent believe that today’s risk manager must think like a futurist, while 81 percent agreed that the use of big data and analytics will transform risk management in the future.
The survey also showed risk managers’ concerns about their ability to fulfil the demands of their changing roles. Again, almost 80 percent of respondents said that it is increasingly difficult to keep pace with the range of emerging risks they face, and only one in five felt very confident that they can manage these.
Multinational risk is also a source of concern and 77 percent of respondents have found it challenging to balance the need for centralised risk management with the need for local know-how on the ground.
Andrew Kendrick, president of ACE’s European group, said: “It is encouraging that Europe’s risk managers are gaining greater influence in the boardroom—and right across their organisations. We are also pleased to see that over three-quarters of our respondents agree that a strong tripartite relationship between insurer, broker and insured is vital to help risk managers address their growing challenges.”
“With businesses more exposed than ever before to emerging risks such as cyber and terrorism and increasingly operating multinationally, we look forward to providing risk managers support that goes beyond traditional insurance policies and working with them to develop the multinational insurance programmes they need to ensure compliant, robust cover across multiple territories and jurisdictions.”
