Emerging & Interconnected Risks Survey: Navigating a complex risk landscape – North America overview

The Emerging and Interconnected Risks Survey explores the complex risk landscape we’re facing today, tomorrow, in the future and the connectivity of those risks.

What are your peers concerned with? The complex interconnected risk landscape, huge uncertainty and their odds of success no better than the chance of a coin flip. Only one in two organizations (53%) feel their business model and strategy are resilient to today’s emerging risk landscape. Those odds get worse looking at the strategic horizon in 10 years’ time. Only 29% feel any sense of confidence, leaving 7 in 10 of your peers concerned their approach to the complex emerging risk landscape will need to radically change.

Our North American respondents identified 151 emerging risks and 278 risk connections through a new risk taxonomy designed to help risk leaders take a second look at where change is happening. The survey reveals that change is happening everywhere, all the risks are connected and urgent gaps demand action. Leaders must adopt a broader perspective and a new risk language.

They face AI and cyber threats, overnight market shifts and unforeseen financial consequences, all while addressing governance and leadership changes. Are you still thinking about risk in silos?

With the top 100 companies responsible for over $19 trillion of revenue, and 39 of those headquartered within North America representing $8 trillion of that value, the financial impact of the wrong action — or worse inaction — require shared understanding and a unified strategy.

A reset is needed. How are you ensuring your organization is not only resilient to these interconnected risks, but also able to go further and seize the opportunity the complex risk landscape brings?

Key findings

• 84% were unable to recall how their organization define and prioritize emerging risks. If leadership isn’t clear about what matters and why, risk and strategy will remain misaligned
• 60% don't believe they have access to the insights needed to understand and action emerging risks. There are knowledge gaps holding leaders back. Specialized industry, role and risk knowledge is needed.
• 80% don’t believe they have the data and models needed to understand and quantify the materiality. Leaders are uncertain about where to allocate capital. Our top performers (who self-identified as outperforming their peers against metrics like financial performance and employee retention) are exploring approaches like wargaming and testing their insurance limits using benchmarking.
• 70% don’t believe they have access to the insurance and risk transfer solutions that will secure their investments.

To view the report with the full findings, please complete the form to the right.

Contacts

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Jennifer Caldarella

Managing Director, Global Large Account Strategy

email Email

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Melissa Dunn

Managing Director,
North America Large Account Leader

email Email

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Louise Pennington

Managing Director,
Head of Strategic Client Engagement, NA

email Email

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Lucy Stanbrough

Head of Emerging Risks, WTW Research Network, WTW

email Email phone +44 20 3124 8508

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