Zurich chief spells out German priorities

Organisations have different risk priorities, but there are recurring challenges among the brokers and customers we speak to. These include macroeconomics, natural catastrophes, cyber attacks and compliance.

As an export-driven economy, uncertainty in macroeconomic environments and macro-economical imbalances is a big concern for German businesses.

Increased trading with Asia, particularly China and India, could offset Europe’s economic slowdown, although recent statistics indicate falls in GDP growth in China and India. This is likely to have an impact on the German export industry.

Climate change and the closely linked risk of supply chain disruption is a growing concern. There is a high level of interdependency in the economy as a result of globalisation, and a major risk is supply chain disruption.

German businesses are globalised and the interconnection between businesses and suppliers makes risk control more difficult.  

Cyber risks

We are seeing emerging risks relating to cyber attacks, as they hit more and more multinationals, and new challenges in the corporate compliance arena as businesses are confronted by change in legislation and regulation.

Widening the spectrum of risk transfer solutions to address these risks is a challenge. At Zurich, we constantly innovate to deal with the changing risk landscape. Our focus is on business resilience, to help customers minimise the impact of loss by addressing their vulnerabilities.

It is important for organisations to implement a robust continuity management strategy so that they remain resilient. To do that, organisations must move from being reactive to proactive.

This will better prepare them to survive a disaster and return to normal operation as quickly as possible. Our team can help identify threats against a company’s operations and implement a plan to minimise disruption.

Supply chain solutions

We have also created supply chain risk assessment and insurance solutions to respond to the growing threat of supply chain disruption. These protect customers’ profitability and help them gain a better understanding of their exposures, the potential impact and the cost of recovery.

We have also launched a multinational insurance application to help customers respond to regulatory challenges – a comprehensive database for managing the regulatory and  premium tax obligations of international business.

The best way to deal with the changing risk landscape is to improve and professionalise risk management strategies and techniques. This is why business continuity, risk prevention and mitigation solutions are priorities for us.