Business interruption, pandemic outbreak and cyber incidents took the top three spots in the Allianz Risk Barometer 2021.

Joachim Müller, CEO of Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, said: “The Allianz Risk Barometer 2021 is clearly dominated by the COVID-19 trio of risks. Business interruption, pandemic and cyber are strongly interlinked, demonstrating the growing vulnerabilities of our highly globalized and connected world.”

He added: “The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that risk management and business continuity management need to further evolve in order to help businesses prepare for, and survive, extreme events.

“While the pandemic continues to have a firm grip on countries around the world, we also have to ready ourselves for more frequent extreme scenarios, such as a global-scale cloud outage or cyber-attack, natural disasters driven by climate change or even another disease outbreak.”

Insolvency risks captured under the heading ‘market developments’ climbed the barometer into fourth position. Macroeconomic development risks, and political risks and violence also rose in the survey.

Fallers included changes in legislation and regulation, natural catastrophes, fire/explosion, and climate change.

Philip Beblo, an expert in AGCS’s global property underwriting team, said: “The consequences of the pandemic – wider digitalisation, more remote working and the growing reliance on technology of businesses and societies – will likely heighten BI risks in coming years.

“However, traditional physical risks will not disappear and must remain on the risk management agenda. Natural catastrophes, extreme weather or fire remain the main causes of BI for many industries and we continue to see a trend for larger losses over time.”

Share Story: