Study: Top concerns for mid-market businesses include financial, digital risk

Fewer than half of mid-sized companies have a mitigation plan in place for most types of macro business risk, according to the 2022 QBE Mid-Sized Company Risk Report. The survey found the risks these companies were least prepared for were related to climate change (33% have a mitigation plan), macroeconomic risk (37%) and reputational risk (39%). Unsurprisingly, these risks – along with that of natural disasters and severe weather – ranked lowest on the list of risks with which mid-sized businesses are concerned.

The macro business risks that concerned these companies the most were financial risk (60%), digital risk (51%), business interruption risk (51%) and organizational risk (44%). These were the same risks for which businesses were most likely to have a mitigation plan in place. While the top three risks all received similar marks for concern in 2021, organizational risk made the jump from the eighth most concerning risk in 2021 to the fourth in 2022, while concern about pandemic risk fell.

The majority of the executives surveyed (74%) said their company currently had unmet risk management needs, and 90% said they would be interested in engaging with their insurers for loss control planning as well as during the claims process. The needs they expressed most often included customized risk management advice, insurance products tailored to their business, more reasonable rates from their current provider and crisis management/ recovery services.

Cyberattacks remained the top concern when it comes to micro risks for mid-sized companies, and remote work has many concerned about how it may affect their cyber vulnerabilities. Other micro risks most concerning to these businesses included changes to regulations that impact their business, fraud/theft, recession or economic downturn, cash flow/liquidity risk and loss of a critical supplier or sub-contractor.

Related:

• Climate change and the growing need for environmental impairment liability insurance
• Ransomware protection for small businesses
• Identifying fraud in business interruption claims