It interviewed 177 asset owners including pension funds, insurance companies and official institutions in 19 countries including New Zealand.

Almost 60% see the increasing complexity of risk management as a major challenge. It was the number one issue for Asia-Pacific respondents.

It ranked ahead of regulatory reporting, at 33%, and regulatory compliance costs, at 28%.

But the respondents were confident in their ability to manage individual risk factors, such as liquidity and investment risk.

Almost half said the next phase of risk management would be tools that would aggregate all aspects of risk including operational and credit market.

“Complex risk management tops the list of concerns for asset owners, far above the traditional worries that have stemmed from regulation in recent years,” said Doug Cameron, managing director BNP Paribas Securities Services New Zealand.

“The increasingly complex nature of risk management will hit asset owners at the bottom line, with one in five respondents expecting  this complexity to have a negative impact on returns in the coming year.  This explains why, when asked about the future of risk management, 43 %of respondents cited the emergence of tools that help aggregate all aspects of risk. Asset owners need an enhanced view of risk across their organisations to help them make better informed decisions."