Businesses are increasingly worried about the impact of disruptive events including cyber incidents, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2016 survey.
The survey, published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), suggested that the risk landscape for businesses is substantially changing in 2016. While businesses are less concerned about the impact of traditional risks, they now fear cyber incidents and competition in the market.
According to the 800 risk managers and insurance experts from more than 40 countries who were surveyed, cyber incidents are the most important long-term risk for companies in the next 10 years. Cyber incidents also ranked third among the top three corporate risks.
The survey revealed that business interruption remains the top risk for businesses globally for the fourth year running. Although companies are normally concerned business interruption will be caused by property damage, the survey showed that businesses’ concerns are increasingly driven by cyber attacks, technical failure, or geo-political instability.
Natural catastrophes have dropped two positions to fourth, and according to AGCS, it reflects the fact that in 2015, losses from natural disasters reached their lowest level since 2009.
Chris Fischer Hirs, CEO of AGCS, commented: “The corporate risk landscape is changing as many industrial sectors are undergoing a fundamental transformation.”
“New technologies, increasing digitalisation and the ‘internet of things’ are changing customer behaviour, industrial operations and business models, bringing a wealth of opportunities, but also raising awareness of the need for an enterprise-wide response to new challenges. As insurers we need to work together with our corporate clients to help them to address these new realities in a comprehensive manner.”
