Companies have been warned that investors and regulators are paying much closer attention to corporate resilience at a time when business is assailed by multiple major risk factors, according to an investor expert.

The views come as part of a webinar hosted by Board Agenda and Diligent, the board solutions provider, exploring the rising importance of resilience as a specialist topic for boardrooms.

Aine Hickey, director of compliance, controls and risk for BNY Fund Administration, said past historic crises such as the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic had offered lessons for shareholders about examining resilience at investee companies.

“Due diligence has become far more robust across the board … and from a risk perspective, there’s definitely emphasis in regulator speeches for companies to be future risk focused.

“There’s an expectation now that as part of your risk management process you are looking at emerging trends and risks and how you go about handling those, which is additional comfort to an investor.”

Risk management to the fore

Current circumstances have placed heavy emphasis on corporate resilience as trade terms continue to be unpredictable, geopolitical conflict remains unresolved and technology evolves at an unprecedented pace.

Those developments have caused both investors and regulators to take a closer look at issues such as risk management.

Rania Bejjani, a risk and governance consultant and founder of RB Advisory, told the webinar that managing risk and resilience places a premium on good boardroom process as leaders are challenged to manage a series of unfolding challenges.

She said boards currently need agility and uncensored information. She added that in making decisions boards should aim for “timeliness over perfection”.

Bejjani added that senior managers also need to focus on relationships. “We need to have a culture of speaking out and good communication so psychological safety doesn’t only apply to employees, it also applies at the board level.”

For Dale Waterman, Diligent’s expert in assessing regulatory developments around the world, technology may provide a crucial helping hand in making sound decisions.

“From a board’s perspective, technology is going to absolutely change the way we work and it’s going to allow us to scale and have insights that we never would have had as humans.

“We really need to embrace the use of technology and AI and think about how it enhances the way that you do your job, gives you insight, saves you time, and then support your business.

You can access the full webinar here