@Risk

As companies dig out from the worst recession since the 1930s, business leaders continue to feel the threat of sustained economic trouble.

This persistent concern is front and center in Aon’s 2011 Global Risk Management Survey, which polled nearly 1,000 business professionals from 58 countries. The survey found that the economic slowdown is the number one risk facing organizations across all geographies, with 67 percent of respondents reporting loss of income in the last 12 months associated with this risk.

In another interesting highlight from the study, failure to innovate/meet customer needs made the top 10 list of global risks for the first time in the history of the study, debuting at number six. This development reflects growing concern about the risk of losing market share to more forward-looking competitors. What’s more, technology failure/system failure also earned its first top 10 spot, ranking ninth on the list. Technology concerns lead to fears about additional risks, including business interruption and damage to brand, which are also found to be top of mind for survey respondents.

Here’s the complete list of Aon’s 2011Global Risk Management Survey Top 10 Risks: (more…)

Consumer confidence in the retail industry is on the rise, increasing almost 20 percent since 2009, according to new research from Aon Risk Solutions.

Aon found that when retailers looked back on 2010, they cited their top five risks as:

• the economy,

• reputation risk,

• supply system disruption,

• liability risk and

• major business interruption.

(Not surprising, considering the global recession, recalls and natural disasters that punctuated the rocky business landscape last year.)

When retailers look forward, they’re anticipating growth. Aon’s 2010 U.S. Retail Industry Report revealed that growth is retailers’ number one priority, followed by the objectives to increase profitability, control costs, provide business continuity and stabilize operations. Risk managers are going to have to step up in order for organizations to realize these goals.  Fortunately, the vast majority (80 percent) of retailers at Aon’s Retail Symposium held last fall said that they expect the responsibility and accountability of the risk management function to grow in the coming year. (more…)

Despite an apparent downward trend in attack frequency over the past few months, terrorism remains a significant threat to businesses, according to the 2010 Aon Terrorism Threat Map, issued last week by Aon Crisis Management, a business practice of Aon Corporation.

The map assigns a threat level (Low, Guarded, Elevated, High or Severe) to countries throughout the world, and not surprisingly the 2010 edition identifies Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Somalia and Yemen as the modern battlefronts for terrorism.

The U.S. retained its Elevated classification, although terrorist incidents over the past year (the Fort Hood massacre, the foiled Christmas Day airliner attack over Detroit and last month’s bomb scare in New York’s Times Square, e.g.) helped push the U.S. higher up within the Elevated category. (more…)

Aon Risk Services, the global risk management and insurance brokerage business of Aon Corporation has launched its 17th annual Political Risk Map, and it shows that political and financial instability remain a feature of the business landscape.

There are 18 downgrades in this year’s map, driven mostly by rising risk levels in 2009, which in turn led to a significant volume of credit and political risk claims in international insurance markets.

The 18 countries with worsening conditions are: Algeria, Argentina, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Seychelles, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.

“For instance, non-payment of sovereign and sub-sovereign debt obligations is a major issue for underwriters insuring risks in Ghana, and underwriters continue to experience a multitude of claims stemming from payment defaults by private sector banks in Ukraine,” explains Miles Johnstone, director of Aon’s Political Risk team. (more…)

The top three concerns for retailers today are the recession, damage to reputation, and supply chain disruptions and failures, according to new research by Aon.

Unfortunately, Aon’s “2009 U.S. Retail Industry Report” also found that retailers rank these three concerns as the ones they are least prepared for. Over half of the survey respondents (53%) say they aren’t prepared for supply chain failure or damage to reputation (52%). A third (33%) feel they lack adequate preparedness for the economic slowdown.
(more…)