Not surprisingly, pandemic risks are among the top concerns for midsize businesses in 2020, tying for the No. 3 spot and beating out reputational risks, regulatory issues and risks related to climate change, according to the QBE North America 2020 Mid-Sized Company Risk Report.

Despite this concern, only 37 percent of midsize business surveyed have a pandemic risk mitigation strategy.

Financial risk is the top concern of midsize businesses in 2020, cited by 65 percent of those surveyed. Digital risk (55 percent) took the No. 2 spot, followed by pandemic risks and business interruption risk (both at 51 percent).

The report, produced in partnership with the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), focused on the top concerns among executives at companies with $200 million to $3 billion in revenues.

Key findings:

• Among financial risks, operations performance and fraud/theft are cited as the most concerning, with 21 percent of those surveyed listing each of them as their top concern.
• Among digital risks, cyber attacks (37 percent), data integrity (35 percent) and disruptive technology (32 percent) rate among the biggest concerns.
• Ensuring the safety of employees is the most concerning pandemic-related risk, with 32 percent rating it as a concern and 22 percent citing it as a top risk. The impact on cash flow followed as a close second, with 33 percent rating it as a concern and 17 percent citing it as a top risk.
• As for business interruption risks, infrastructure breakdown and facility shutdowns are most concerning. Social unrest ranked No. 6 in this category.

The survey was conducted by the independent market research firm HawkPartners from June 24 to July 8, 2020 and included more than 300 decision-makers at U.S. companies.