The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) 2017 Risk Survey

Finance professionals report that greater earnings uncertainty and difficulty forecasting risk are among the top challenges they face, according to the 2017 AFP Risk Survey. Additionally, geopolitical risks continue to create concerns for senior business leaders who are taking steps to reduce the potential impact of such risks.

The sixth edition of the survey, prepared by the Association for Financial Professionals with the support of Marsh & McLennan Companies’ Global Risk Center, provides insights into the views of US-based corporate financial professionals about the current risk environment, with a particular focus on the political and social risks that crystalized in 2016.

The following areas of risk posed the most concern for survey respondents:

• Greater earnings uncertainty: 49% of finance professionals believe their organizations are exposed to greater earnings uncertainty today than three years ago.
  
• Difficulty forecasting risk: 84% of respondents report that forecasting risk is either as difficult as or more difficult than it was three years ago — and they expect that forecasting will only become more difficult in the future.
  
• Geopolitical risk concerns: 52% of treasury and finance functions are considering the impact of geopolitical events on their organizations’ growth. These include:
  • Loss of customers (53%).
  • Current volatility risk (49%).
  • Supply chain disruptions (30%).

The survey results are based on the responses from 480 AFP professionals, including CFOs, treasurers, controllers, and other financial professionals. Respondents were from companies ranging in size from under $50 million to over $20 billion, across a wide range of industries.

Read or download the report for full analysis of the survey results.