Among the many effects that the pandemic had on the economic and productive world, it has to be added also the change in the risk profile of company directors and executives. This is what emerges from a recent survey commissioned by QBE Europe to the research company Opinium, which involved about 3000 senior decision managers from United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy (500), and collected the results in the report D&O Management Liability.
The survey covered five thematic areas: changes in roles and responsibilities, the impact of Covid-19, environmental initiatives, IT risks and claims.
More responsibilities, more worries
Analyzing the Italian results, seven out of ten managers said that in the last five years - or since they started working for their current company - their role has changed and this has led to an increase in responsibilities. Only 2% said the opposite, while 27% maintained a stable position. It appears that more than three-quarters (76%) of managers who experienced an increase in tasks and responsibilities also experienced an increase in stress levels. This, in a different form, had an impact above all on their general health (12%), led to a worsening of insomnia (20%) and the worry of making mistakes due to stress (24%).
"These results should be the starting point of a discussion among the insurance market players in order to intervene with product guarantees to support some of the aspects that fall within the D&O policy, such as the health part" commented Angela Rebecchi, general manager of QBE Italia.
Covid-19 makes businesses more careful
The pandemic, in addition to having generated a health emergency, has led to a series of collateral problems that have impacted various areas. The corporate issues that most worried Italian decision managers are the financial crisis, the health and safety of employees and the measures to be taken to combat the pandemic. Today 3 out of 5 managers feel more responsible, and for 70% the overall risk profile of their role in the last year has worsened (it has improved only for 5%).
The increase in attention and sense of responsibility seems to be shared by companies: 53% have increased the level of attention to the safety and well-being of employees.
ESGs are growing, but not fast enough
Almost half of the respondents are concerned about the potential responsibility deriving from the failure to implement environmental initiatives or to report climate-related risks. For 39% of managers, ESG initiatives are a priority, an absolute one for a further 11%.
One in four say that their company has increased attention to these issues in the last year and a similar percentage (26%) are convinced that having a solid ESG structure is important for the company's investors and customers.
Little awareness of cyber risks
Three quarters (75%) of respondents said their company relies to some extent on third party vendors for IT security management and / or data management. Almost half outsource only part of their risk management, one fifth outsource most of it, and 10% outsource entirely to a third-party vendor. Of the latter, the alarming figure, given the importance of IT security for companies, is that only 8% declare that they understand who is responsible in the event of a computer incident involving a supplier.
Claims: Managers are demanding more protection
One in five respondents said they were victim of a claim and 19% have faced one, as a business owner or member of senior management. Of these, 7 out of 10 (72%) said that the claims took place in the last 18 months, mainly in the area of health and safety. Consequently, 25% of managers today ask for more structures / processes in place to protect them from the possibility of a claims. Three in ten believe they are adequately covered by insurance in the event of a claim, while 23% would like there to be more tools to protect senior management. In line with this, 12% said they were concerned about a claim against them.
