More than a third of Australian risk management experts believe legislative and regulatory changes are the biggest threat to local businesses this year, ahead of a federal election and growing economic protectionism overseas.
The latest Allianz risk barometer survey found 36 per cent of risk managers were concerned about policy changes, which included the impact of trade wars, protectionism, and Brexit.
That was 8 percentage points higher than this time last year, Allianz said, and in fact was the highest level of any country surveyed in the Asia Pacific region.
However, it is unclear whether trade wars, the election or something else was of specific concern to respondents.
Business interruptions, such as supply chain disruption, ranked as the second biggest problem, picked by 32 per cent of risk professionals and down 14 percentage points from 2018.
Cyber incidents, such as crime, data breaches or IT failure, were considered a major threat by 30 per cent of risk managers, down 19 percentage points from the previous year.
Market developments including M&A and competition was also selected by 30 per cent of participants, who were able to pick up to three options.
In a separate question, two thirds of respondents said artificial intelligence was the biggest technological threat to business.
But 80 per cent also said it would be the most valuable technology for business.
Allianz Pacific region chief executive Willem Van Wyk said risk concerns were influenced by the pace of change in legislation, market disruption and technology.
“Australian organisations need to plan and prepare for a wide range of disruptive scenarios that can stem from their own operations, suppliers, IT service providers or new competitors,” Mr Van Wyk said.
“Regardless of the cause of disruption, the financial loss for companies following an event can be enormous.”
