In total, 84% of international business leaders surveyed as part of BDO’s annual Global Risk Landscape Report 2025 said the global risk landscape is now, more than ever, defined by crisis.
In response, executives are taking a much more defensive approach, with more than two-thirds (69%) saying their companies are either ‘risk averse’ or ‘risk minimising’, a rise from 61% last year.
Only 7% of executives said their risk management was ‘very proactive’, down from 19% in 2024 and 29% in 2023.
The report found that top six risks keeping business leaders up at night were regulatory risk, concerns over supply chains, recruiting and retaining talent, geopolitical tensions, environmental issues and cybercrime.
While regulators are demanding ever more information about risks, some executives (39%) agreed that this had a positive impact in helping to make companies safer, but a larger proportion (57%) said regulatory demands were only ‘somewhat’ helpful in reducing company risk profiles.
However, CEOs surveyed were critical of compliance overspend, suggesting that current risk management strategies are failing to deliver value.
In the face of such uncertainty, some leaders are a little over cautious, and delaying critical decisions for fear of potential missteps. However, we know of course, that being risk-averse can prevent businesses from taking advantage of opportunities to really drive growth. There’s also a danger that focusing too much risks through a compliance lens could detract businesses from addressing the more substantive risks for the organisation.
For this report, BDO surveyed 500 C-suite executives in global businesses with over $100m in revenue across a range of industries including financial services, power and utilities, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing and private equity.