Human capital risk most significant threat, study finds

International risk managers see human capital risk as being the most significant threat facing their global business operations, according to a survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by the ACE Group of Companies. The surveys findings show that human capital risk, such as skills shortages, succession issues and the loss of key personnel, were seen by respondents as being more significant than threats from reputational risk, information technology risk, political risk and regulatory risk, an ACE release says.This represents a change from a year ago, when reputational risk was perceived in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quarterly risk barometre survey as being the biggest threat that respondents faced, the company statement says. Despite acknowledging the importance of the skills unit, 32% of the survey respondents say that they manage human risk capital effectively the only areas where they feel less confident are risks associated with terrorism and climate change.The Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 218 executives with roughly one-third from North America, and 50% of respondents representing businesses with annual revenue of more than US$500 million around the world about their approach to risk management and their perception of the key challenges and opportunities facing their organizations.