Lloyd’s report highlights reputation as one of the most valuable intangible assets to global businesses

Lloyd’s, the world’s leading specialist insurance and reinsurance market, today published a new report in collaboration with KPMG, which looks at the role of the global (re)insurance industry in providing risk transfer solutions and adapting to the increasingly complex reputational risk landscape.

The new report: ‘Safeguarding reputation – Are you prepared to protect your reputation?’ considers how the reputational risk landscape has changed significantly over the last decade as risk profiles of businesses continue to evolve at an ever-faster pace across all industries. It highlights that corporate brand and reputation accounts for 25.3% of the market capitalisation of the world’s leading equity market indices, equating to $16.77 trillion of value for shareholders in Q1 2019.

The report draws attention to the heightened risk of adverse reputational threats faced by organisations, both internally and externally, as they continue to digitise their operations and customer engagement. For businesses to stay resilient, operationally and financially, awareness of safeguarding their reputation is critical and must form a considerable part of their risk management strategy.

A crucial part of this is the role that insurance plays in providing reputational risk transfer solutions and developing bespoke products that would support multiple losses from legal costs to the loss of market value. The report looks at the existing risk transfer solutions available today, and how risk indemnity will increasingly be supported by additional services that will help organisations assess their risks, build resilience, and provide support after a crisis.

COVID-19 has also challenged the way in which many businesses think about how they protect their reputation. The pandemic has caused widespread disruption and impacted organisations’ financial, commercial and operational resilience, increasing the likelihood of adverse reputational events. 

The report explains how organisations can proactively take steps to protect their reputation by enhancing their brand, preventing adverse events, as well as limiting damage and rebuilding reputation after an incident.

Dr. Trevor Maynard, Head of Innovation at Lloyd’s said: “The Lloyd’s market already provides cover for reputational risks and is developing new products to help mitigate these risks and organisations’ exposure to them. Insurers have an opportunity to become true end-to-end reputational risk management partners, moving well beyond traditional risk indemnity and the usual crisis management support. There are huge growth opportunities for insurers and brokers to help organisations transform their reputation management.”  

Paul Merrey, Head of Commercial & Specialty Insurance at KPMG UK, said: “The reputational risks facing organisations are becoming increasingly complex, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach to protection simply won’t work. Insurers can play a key role in supporting businesses, though to be truly effective we expect new products will measure more nuanced triggers and be tailored to specific industries and companies’ needs. Just as cyber insurance has become a core offering to reflect a changed risk landscape, we anticipate that reputation products will become a staple within the insurance industry in the next five years.”