The majority of financial services firms are planning to increase their risk-management investment over the next two years to address risks of cyber security and fraud, according to a new report from Accenture.
According to the Accenture 2015 Global Risk Management Study, based on a survey of more than 450 senior risk-management executives in the banking, capital markets and insurance industries, nearly nine in 10 financial services firms are looking to focus their investment in risk-management capabilities.
The survey has found 86% of respondents reporting their organizations to be considering increasing their investment in risk-management capabilities in the next two years, with one in four (26%) planning to increase it by more than 20%.
Three in 10 respondents (29%) said their companies plan to increase by more than 20% their investment in Cloud/Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and big data and analytics.
The findings indicated the increasing impact of cyber security and fraud on financial services firms’ business and the risk-management function in particular.
Accenture Finance and Risk Services senior global managing director Steve Culp said: "The combination of market forces, advances in technology and customer demands are pushing financial institutions to become more digital and requiring a broader range of skills from today’s risk management professionals.

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData"Financial services firms are struggling to keep pace with the demand for people with highly specialized skills, such as cyber risk experts, business analysts, security specialists and fraud experts. To fill these gaps, most firms will have to look outside of their organizations — and the competition for the right people is increasingly intense."