Investors say cyberattacks pose the biggest threat to business, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Investor Survey 2018.
The survey found that 41 percent of investors and analysts are extremely concerned about cyber threats, jumping to the number one concern in 2017 from fifth place the year before. Geopolitical uncertainty (39 percent extremely concerned), the speed of technological change (37 percent), populism (33 percent) and protectionism (32 percent) were the other highest threats to growth, according to investors.
Business leaders are also concerned with it as 40 percent calling it a threat, ranking third behind over-regulation and terrorism.
Roughly 64 percent of investors say businesses should prioritize investment in cybersecurity protection, while 47 percent of CEOs said the same thing.
“The top concerns of investors and CEOs emphasize the different internal and external perspectives on, and day to day experiences of, businesses. While on-the-ground challenges such as finding the right skills are high on business leaders’ agendas, investors are preoccupied with the impact that wider societal trends, such as geopolitical uncertainty, populism, and protectionism, have on businesses generally,” Hilary Eastman, head of global investor engagement at PwC, said.
The survey revealed that both investors and CEOs are more confident about the global growth outlook than they were last year. Specifically, 54 percent of investors, and 57 percent of CEOs, believe global economic growth will improve in 2018. For investors, that confidence is up 9 percent from last year, and for CEOs, that’s up 19 percent.
However, investors are more pessimistic about their investments’ revenue growth outlook. About 23 percent of investors are very confident about 12-month growth, compared with 42 percent of CEOs. Only 20 percent are confident about growth over the next three years compared to 45 percent of business leaders.
The big concerns for investors are disruption from technology, customer behavior, and distribution channels.
“Investors expect disruption to have a bigger impact on business than CEOs, which might be affecting investor confidence in growth over the longer term. Effective communication between businesses and investors is key to addressing caution. If businesses can clearly demonstrate the actions they’re taking to combat investors’ concerns, they’re more likely to be able to attract long-term investment,” Eastman said.
The United States, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and India remain the top five countries investors and CEOs consider important for growth.
Investors add that transparency on pay and benefits is the number one factor in building trust with employees, while CEOs say it’s organization’s values.
“Taking the investor perspective into account can give CEOs valuable external insights into where they need to focus to build confidence in their business,” Eastman concluded. “The survey findings suggest investors are more concerned about the risks associated with rapidly evolving technology than CEOs. Investing in cybersecurity, digital skills and training will be crucial for business leaders if they want investors to have confidence in their companies.”