Insurance Experts Look Into Their Crystal Ball:
WillisWire Bloggers Reveal Their Top Emerging Risks for 2012
London, UK, January 24, 2012 – The recent chronicle of game-changing risks that
companies face operating in today’s volatile world are well-documented, from the
Eurozone crisis and the Arab Spring, to natural catastrophes like the Japanese
earthquake and Thai floods. Beyond these headline-grabbing events however, new risks
are emerging that could blindside business executives, warns global insurance broker
Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH) in its new website of intellectual capital, WillisWire.
Looking ahead to major risks that may gain more popular consciousness in 2012,
WillisWire is out today with a survey of a new set of thorny problems that may be
keeping risk managers up at night, from fracking to cyber terrorism, space tourism and
uncertainty around renewables caused by national energy policies. The bloggers on
WillisWire, which together represent many of the broker’s subject matter experts, have
assembled their thoughts about the biggest emerging risks facing their industries and
services.
In the special feature – entitled “What New Risks Will Emerge in 2012?” – WillisWire,
which has received on average nearly 9,000 page views a month since its launch in
September 2011, lays out 18 emerging risks facing industries as diverse as Energy,
Banking, Captives and Power & Utilities. The blog also polls readers asking them to
identify which of the risks listed they think will have the greatest impact in 2012.
The WillisWire Emerging Risks Round-up includes:
Some of the risks identified by Willis’ subject matter bloggers might not yet be front-andcenter
on companies’ radars, like the “perfect storm of cross-border cooperation
between regulators” brewing outside boardrooms globally. Other exposures, like the
risks associated with hydraulic fracking for natural gas, have been growing in
significance lately, with several lawsuits (but no big claims as of yet) making insurance
hard to find.
The WillisWire list also includes some new twists to well-known risks like Supply Chain
disruption, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s globalized market, with
industries like Mining and Energy bearing the brunt. Willis’ Trade Credit blogger Andrew
Van Den Born, an Executive Director of the broker’s Financial Solutions division, warns,
for example, that Iran's threat to close the Straits of Hormuz, “one of the most
strategically important choke points for traded seaborne oil”, could trigger a supply chain
meltdown in the oil and gas industry.
Looking into the not-so-distant future, WillisWire’s Financial Services Practice Leader
and blogger, Richard Magrann-Wells predicts that “Bradley Manning 2.0 -a “bright
programmer with an Ivy League education and an access card working at a technology,
bank or credit card company” is a new threat that financial institutions should work to
protect themselves against.
Over 27 bloggers from across Willis Group regularly post their thoughts on WillisWire
about the insurance implications of significant industry-specific events, giving readers
real-time information and insight into all the risks facing their business. This year,
WillisWire will be running a series of special features, topical video interviews and
commentary on breaking news.
About Willis
Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global insurance broker. Through its subsidiaries,
Willis develops and delivers professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management,
financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public
entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120
countries, with a global team of approximately 17,000 employees serving clients in
virtually every part of the world. Additional information on Willis may be found at
www.willis.com.
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