Just 1 in 4 risk management professionals are positioned to lead their organization through new or difficult exposures, according to a study by Origami Risk, which reported 12% of risk managers don't have the "skills, vision, technology, organizations support or finical resources needed to manage risk proactively, make timely decisions and drive critical change.

The study, which included surveys and in-depth interviews with more than 220 risk professionals, put respondents into risk management maturity groups, which were based on how they viewed their risk programs. Just 27% were considered risk maturity "leaders," which meant programs were optimized using internal collaboration and enhanced analytics or managed with enterprise-wide engagement processes. The bottom 12% of respondents, dubbed "laggards," viewed their risk programs as uncoordinated and "ad hoc."

Perhaps the most pronounced difference between leaders and laggards is how they prioritize risk programs. Nearly half of leaders ranked risk programs as a high priority, while just 15% of laggards said the same.