FM Global has released the 2019 edition of the FM Global Resilience Index, adding a new driver, corporate governance, to its ranking of 130 countries and territories by the resilience of their business environments.
Corporate governance is one of 12 economic, risk, and supply chain-related measures driving the 2019 FM Global Resilience Index rankings. Singapore, ranked 21st overall, occupies the top spot in the new corporate governance category, which reflects the strength of a country's auditing and accounting standards, conflict of interest regulation, and shareholder governance.
Two African countries were the biggest year-over-year movers in corporate governance. Rwanda climbed 50 places in corporate governance (from 79th to 29th), contributing to this year's biggest rise in the overall Index: 35 places (from 107th to 72nd). The rise made Rwanda the highest-ranked African country for corporate governance.
South Africa fell eight places in the overall Index (from 39th to 47th), in part due to its 20-place drop in the corporate governance ranking (from 14th to 34th).
In a statement, FM Global explained that these moves were particularly relevant as global business leaders eye the African market. South Africa attracted 446 percent more foreign direct investment (“FDI”) in 2018 than in 2017, even as global FDI receded. United States businesses and investors made more foreign direct investments in Africa in 2017 than did their counterparts from any other country.
FM Global said that it designed the Index to help chief financial officers (“CFOs”) and other business leaders choose resilience as they manage their own risk, site facilities, extend supply chains, and cultivate customers. FM Global added that its experience indicated that a lack of resilience could have far-reaching, long-lasting effects on business value and performance.
“Resilience is critical for CFOs as trade conflicts, weakening economies, national elections, Brexit, and evolving climate risks prompt companies to rethink their locations and partners,” said Kevin Ingram, executive vice president and chief financial officer at FM Global. “We believe resilience is a choice that industry leaders make, and the Index gives executives one more tool with which to make good decisions about their futures.”
According to the Index, Norway retained its number-one position in the overall resilience ranking among a mostly reshuffled top 10. Norway was followed by Denmark (ranked 2nd), Switzerland (3rd), Germany (4th), Finland (5th), Sweden (6th), Luxembourg (7th), Austria (8th), Central United States (9th) and the United Kingdom(10th).
The bottom three countries in the Index were Ethiopia (128th), Venezuela (129th) and Haiti (130th) – all unchanged from last year.
The United States was viewed as three regions in the Index because of their varying exposures to natural hazards. The Eastern region came in 11th, and the Western region at 22nd.
After Rwanda, the 2019 Index's top risers were Thailand (89th to 73rd) and the Dominican Republic (93rd to 71st). The top fallers were Trinidad (68th to 89th), El Salvador (103rd to 117th) and the newly named Republic of North Macedonia (78th to 100th).
Cybersecurity, a board-level concern, is a key ingredient of resilience and is reflected in the Index, FM Global said. After another year of major cyberattacks, several developed countries strengthened their positions in the inherent cyber risk category, including Germany (up 24 places to 54th), France (up 12 to 89th), Australia (up 11 to 62nd) and the United States (up nine to 32nd).
Learn more: www.fmglobal.com/resilienceindex.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].