Citizens (CIA) Risk Analysis

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Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

Citizens disclosed 12 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Citizens reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q2, 2025

Risk Distribution

58% Finance & Corporate

17% Tech & Innovation

17% Production

8% Legal & Regulatory

0% Ability to Sell

0% Macro & Political

Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy

This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

S&P500 Average

Sector Average

Risks removed

Risks added

Risks changed

Citizens Risk Factors

New Risk (0)

Risk Changed (0)

Risk Removed (0)

No changes from previous report

The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q2, 2025

Main Risk Category

Finance & Corporate

With 7 Risks

Finance & Corporate

With 7 Risks

Number of Disclosed Risks

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

Recent Changes

0Risks added

0Risks removed

0Risks changed

Since Jun 2025

0Risks added

0Risks removed

0Risks changed

Since Jun 2025

Number of Risk Changed

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

See the risk highlights of Citizens in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 12

Finance & Corporate

Total Risks: 7/12 (58%)Above Sector Average

Share Price & Shareholder Rights3 | 25.0%

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1

Applicable insurance laws in the jurisdictions where our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled may discourage takeovers and business combinations that our shareholders might consider to be in their best interests.

Insurance laws in the jurisdictions in which our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled require regulatory actions for certain transactions, such as a merger or acquisition of our Company, that our shareholders might consider in their best interests. To the extent the interests of our policyholders and stockholders conflict, the insurance regulators consider the best interests of policyholders over the best interests of our shareholders. As a result, our shareholders may be prevented from receiving the benefit from any premium to the market price of our Class A common stock that may be offered by a bidder in a takeover context or such regulatory approval requirement may delay, deter, render more difficult or prevent a takeover attempt or a change in control.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2

Our Class A common stock is not registered in any foreign country.

As mentioned above, a significant portion of our Class A common stock has been purchased under the SIP by foreign holders of life insurance policies. The Class A common stock sold under the SIP is registered with the SEC pursuant to a Form S-3 registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 but is not registered under the laws of any foreign jurisdiction. If a foreign securities regulatory authority were to determine the offer and sale of our Class A common stock under the SIP was not allowed under applicable laws and regulations of its jurisdiction, such authority may issue or assert a fine, penalty or cease and desist order against our offer and sale of Class A common stock in that foreign jurisdiction. There is a risk our Class A common stock price could be negatively impacted by a decrease in participation in the SIP.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3

The number and location of our shareholders may make it difficult to obtain approval of certain corporate actions.

Because we allow our policyholders to use their policy dividends to purchase our Class A common stock through our SIP, we have almost 83,000 shareholders and approximately 40% of our shareholders hold less than 100 shares each. Many of these shareholders are located in Latin America and the Pacific Rim, where most of our policies are sold, and English may not be their native language. We believe that because of this, we typically have low voter turn-out at our annual meetings and therefore any proposal, such as one related to a merger or an acquisition of our Company, or an amendment to our articles of incorporation, that may require the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class A common stock, may be difficult to approve.

Accounting & Financial Operations2 | 16.7%

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1

Unexpected losses in future reporting periods may require us to record a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets.

Under U.S. GAAP, we are required to evaluate our deferred tax assets ("DTA") quarterly for recoverability based on available evidence. This process involves management's judgment about assumptions, which are subject to change from period to period due to tax rate changes or variances between our projected operating performance and our actual results. Ultimately, future adjustments to the DTA valuation allowance, if any, will be determined based upon changes in the expected realization of the net deferred tax assets. The realization of the deferred tax assets depends on the existence of sufficient taxable income in either the carry back or carry forward periods under applicable tax law. Due to significant estimates utilized in establishing the valuation allowance and the potential for changes in facts and circumstances, it is reasonably possible that we may be required to record a valuation allowance in future reporting periods. Such an adjustment could have a material adverse effect on our results of operation and financial condition.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2

Changes in accounting standards may adversely affect our reported results of operations and financial condition.

Our consolidated financial statements are subject to the application of GAAP in the U.S., which is periodically revised and/or expanded. Accordingly, we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards issued by recognized authoritative bodies, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC"). Updates or revisions, including underlying assumptions, projections, estimates or judgments/interpretations by management, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the required adoption of new accounting standards may result in significant incremental costs associated with initial implementation and ongoing compliance. See Part IV. Item 15. Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the notes to our consolidated financial statements contained herein for additional information regarding accounting updates.

Debt & Financing1 | 8.3%

Debt & Financing - Risk 1

A ratings downgrade or other negative action by a rating agency could materially affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

A.M. Best reviews CICA Domestic and publishes its financial strength rating as an indicator of our ability to fulfill our contractual obligations. This rating is important to maintaining public confidence in our insurance products. A downgrade or other negative action by A.M. Best with respect to the financial strength rating of CICA Domestic could negatively affect us by limiting or restricting the ability of CICA Domestic to attract independent insurance agencies to distribute our products or reduce the attractiveness of our products to consumers. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT RISKS INVESTMENT INCOME IS A MATERIAL PORTION OF OUR TOTAL REVENUES. CHANGING FINANCIAL CONDITIONS SUCH AS MARKET VOLATILITY, CHANGES IN INTEREST RATES, OR INFLATION MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR REVENUES, OUR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION. Global or regional changes in the financial markets or economic conditions could adversely affect our business in many ways, including the following: Inflation, recession, an increase in unemployment rates or declines in consumer confidence could lead people to conserve cash, thereby causing a decrease in new sales and renewal premiums, or an increase in surrenders and lapses, which would cause a decline in our premium revenue or increase in benefit expenses paid out. Market volatility, specifically declining equity markets, negatively impact the fair market value of our equity securities, leading to investment-related losses that negatively affect our GAAP operating revenue and profitability. We are subject to credit risk in our investment portfolio. Defaults by third parties in the payment or performance of their obligations under these securities could reduce our investment income or result in the recognition of realized losses. Additionally, downgrades in the bonds in our portfolio may result in the recognition of credit related allowances and cause us to reduce the carrying value of our investment portfolio. Any event reducing the value of our securities on an other than temporary basis may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. The decision of whether to record a credit loss impairment is determined by our assessment of the financial condition and prospects of a particular issuer, projections of future cash flows and recoverability as well as our ability and intent to hold the securities to recovery or maturity. There can be no assurance that we have accurately assessed the level of impairments taken. Low or declining interest rates could negatively affect us for many reasons, including: Our fixed maturity investment portfolio is primarily invested in callable securities. As interest rates remained ultra-low for a decade until 2022, many of these securities were called and we had to reinvest in lower interest rate bonds, leading to reduced net investment income and low yields. Some of our products, principally endowment products and traditional whole life insurance with annuity riders, expose us to the risk that decreases in interest rates will reduce our "spread", or the difference between the amounts we are required to pay under our contracts to policyholders and the rate of return we are able to earn on our investments intended to support obligations under the contracts. An interest or discount rate is used in calculating reserves for our insurance products. We set our reserve discount rate assumptions based on our current and expected future investment yield for assets supporting the reserves, considering current and expected future market conditions. If the discount rate assumed in our reserve calculations is higher than our future investment returns (due to lower interest rates), our invested assets will not earn enough investment income to support our future benefit payments. In that case, we may be required to record additional liabilities and/or increase our capital contributions to our insurance subsidiaries in the period this occurs. Rising interest rates may negatively affect us as follows: Rising interest rates typically reduce the market values of fixed income assets, as the interest payments on such assets become less competitive relative to newer high rate fixed income instruments. This leads to material unrealized losses and negatively affects our stockholders' equity. Policies may become less attractive to our policyholders in a rising interest rate environment. They may surrender their policies or make early withdrawals to increase their returns, requiring us to liquidate investments and realize an actual loss. Some of our investments, such as mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, carry prepayment risk. As interest rates increase, the likelihood of prepayment is lower, as the issuer will want to make payments based on the lower interest rates. If the repayment of principal occurs later than we expected, our cash flow could be negatively impacted. As interest rates decrease, issuers are more likely to pre-pay, which could cause us to have to re-invest the pre-paid cash at lower interest rates, reducing our yields and net investment income. CYBERSECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY RISKS THE COMPANY RELIES ON OUR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS, AND THE DATA MAINTAINED WITHIN THOSE SYSTEMS, TO MANAGE MANY ASPECTS OF OUR BUSINESS. CYBERSECURITY RISKS, THE FAILURE OF OUR SYSTEMS TO OPERATE PROPERLY AND/OR THE FAILURE TO MAINTAIN THE CONFIDENTIALITY, INTEGRITY, AND AVAILABILITY OF POLICYHOLDER AND CLAIMS DATA, INCLUDING PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION, COULD RESULT IN A MATERIALLY ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS, REPUTATION, FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

Corporate Activity and Growth1 | 8.3%

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1

The failure of our business recovery and incident management processes to resume our business operations in the event of a catastrophe, an epidemic, a cyber attack, or other event could adversely affect our profitability, results of operations, or financial condition.

As mentioned above, we rely on our technology systems to operate our business. In the event of a cyber attack, cyber security breach or other information technology systems failure, whether due to a disaster such as a natural catastrophe, an epidemic, a terrorist attack, or war, the inability to use our policy administration system and other information systems, or an unanticipated problem with our disaster recovery systems, would have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct business and depending on how long the inability to use such systems lasts, on our results of operations and financial condition.

Tech & Innovation

Total Risks: 2/12 (17%)Above Sector Average

Cyber Security1 | 8.3%

Cyber Security - Risk 1

A cyber attack or other security breach could result in the unauthorized disclosure or loss of confidential data, damage our reputation or relationships, and expose us to significant financial and legal liability, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

We collect, maintain and use information, including proprietary and personally identifiable information ("PII"), of our applicants, policyholders, independent agents and others. As part of our normal business operations, we engage third-party providers, such as companies who print and mail our policies and premium notices, data programmers, marketing companies, and agents, who may also collect, store, access, process, and transmit this PII. Various federal and state laws, as well as laws of the countries in which our policyholders reside, address the use and disclosure of PII. We devote significant resources and employ security measures to help protect our information technology systems and confidential information, including PII, and we have programs in place to detect, contain, and respond to cyber security incidents. We also have a stringent process to analyze the systems of our third-party vendors and partners who may collect and/or have access to our PII. However, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, we and our third-party providers may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, hardware, software, or applications we develop or procure from third parties or through open source solutions may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise our information security. Unauthorized parties, whether within or outside our company, may disrupt or gain access to our systems, or those of third parties with whom we do business, through human error, misfeasance, fraud, trickery, or other forms of deceit, including break-ins, use of stolen credentials, social engineering, phishing, or other cyber attacks, computer viruses, malicious codes, and similar means of unauthorized and destructive tampering. We and our third-party providers may experience information security incidents from time to time. There is no assurance that our security systems and measures will be able to prevent, mitigate, or remediate cyber attacks. A successful penetration or circumvention of the security of our information technology systems, or those of third parties with whom we do business, could cause serious negative consequences for us, including significant disruption of our operations, unauthorized disclosure or loss of confidential information, harm to our brand or reputation, loss of customers and revenues, violations of privacy and other laws, exposure to litigation, monetary damages, regulatory enforcement proceedings, fines, and potentially criminal proceedings and penalties. If we are unaware of the incident for some time after it occurs, our exposure could increase. In addition, the costs to address or remediate systems disruptions or security threats or vulnerabilities, whether before or after an incident, could be significant. As we continue to build our digital capabilities and focus on enhancing the customer experience, the amount of information that we retain and share with third parties is likely to grow, increasing the cost to prevent data security breaches and the cost and potential consequences of such breaches. Although we have insurance against some cyber risks and attacks, we may be subject to litigation and financial losses that exceed our policy limits, are subject to deductibles or are not covered under any of our current insurance policies.

Technology1 | 8.3%

Technology - Risk 1

Our failure to maintain effective information systems could adversely affect our business.

Our policyholder administration system allows us to administer almost all of our business, including issuing policies, crediting premiums to such policies, and payment of commissions to our agents. We must maintain and enhance our existing system and develop and integrate new information systems in a cost-effective manner to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving industry and regulatory standards and changing customer preferences. If we do not maintain adequate systems, we could experience adverse consequences, including inability to accept new applications or issue new products, inadequate information on which to base pricing, underwriting and reserve decisions, regulatory problems, failure to meet prompt payment obligations, increases in administrative expenses and loss of customers. Our failure to maintain effective and efficient information systems, or our failure to consolidate our existing systems could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Our primary policy administration system is a mainframe-based, legacy-type system that requires an ongoing commitment of resources to maintain current standards. Our system utilizes proprietary code requiring highly skilled personnel. Due to the unique nature of our proprietary operating environment, we could have difficulty finding personnel with the skills required to provide ongoing system maintenance and development as we seek to keep pace with changes in our products and business models, information processing technology, evolving industry and regulatory standards and policyholder needs. We are continuously evaluating and enhancing systems and creating new systems and processes as our business depends on our ability to maintain and improve our technology. Due to the complexity and interconnectedness of our systems and processes, these changes, as well as changes designed to update and enhance our protective measures to address new threats, increase the risk of a system or process failure or the creation of a gap in our security measures. Any such failure or gap could adversely affect our business operations and results of operations. An information technology systems failure could also interfere with our ability to comply with financial reporting and other regulatory requirements, exposing us to potential disciplinary action by regulators.

Production

Total Risks: 2/12 (17%)Above Sector Average

Costs2 | 16.7%

Costs - Risk 1

Citizens is a holding company that has minimal operations of its own and depends on the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends or make service payments to us in sufficient amounts to fund our operations. If they cannot make such payments, Citizens may need to sell investments or seek external capital to cover its operational costs.

As a holding company, our assets consist of the capital stock of our subsidiaries, cash and investments. Accordingly, we rely primarily on statutorily permissible payments from our insurance subsidiaries, principally through dividends or service agreements we have with our subsidiaries, to meet our working capital needs. As discussed above, the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to make payments to us is subject to regulation by the states and jurisdictions in which they are domiciled, and in addition to maintaining minimum capital and surplus ratios, these payments depend primarily on regulatory approval of dividend payments and approved service agreements between us and these subsidiaries. Because a primary goal of insurance regulations is to protect policyholders, claims of our subsidiaries' creditors, including policyholders, have priority with respect to the assets and earnings of the subsidiaries over the claims of other creditors (including us) and Citizens' shareholders. If any of our subsidiaries become insolvent, liquidates or otherwise reorganizes, our policyholders will have a priority to receive the assets of such subsidiary and Citizens may have no rights to receive cash or other assets of such subsidiaries. If our internal sources of liquidity prove to be insufficient to cover our holding company operations, we may have to sell investments earlier than we want to sell them or in less than favorable market conditions, or we may have to seek external sources of capital. I n May 2024, we renewed our Credit Facility with Regions Bank for an additional three years. See Part IV. Item 15. Note 8. Commitments and Contingencies in the notes to our consolidated financial statements, herein, for a description of the Credit Facility. To date, we have not utilized the Credit Facility, but if internal sources of capital are not sufficient to meet our operating needs, we may need to utilize the Credit Facility or increase the borrowing availability under the Credit Facility. Borrowing money, increasing our borrowing availability under the Credit Facility or obtaining financing for even a small amount of capital could be challenging or expensive in unfavorable market conditions and during periods of economic uncertainty. The availability of financing will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of credit, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, and the possibility that customers or lenders could develop a negative perception of our financial prospects. We may also need to raise capital through issuing our stock. Raising capital in unfavorable market conditions could increase our interest expense or negatively impact our shareholders through dilution of their common stock ownership of the Company. FINANCIAL RISKS

Costs - Risk 2

Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to minimum capital and surplus requirements, and any failure to meet these requirements could subject us to regulatory action or other restrictions, including ceasing business.

The capacity for an insurance company's growth in premiums is partially a function of its required statutory surplus. Maintaining appropriate levels of statutory surplus, as measured by statutory accounting practices prescribed or permitted by a company's jurisdiction of domicile, is the most important solvency measure for insurance regulatory authorities. Failure to maintain required levels of statutory surplus could result in increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action by regulatory authorities. Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to minimum capital and surplus requirements in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. If we fail to meet these standards and requirements, our various regulators may require specified actions to be taken, including without limitation: restricting distributions from our subsidiaries to Citizens; or requiring Citizens to contribute additional capital to a subsidiary; or requiring Citizens to enter into a guaranty or other agreement to contribute capital to such subsidiary under certain circumstances;requiring the applicable insurance company to stop selling new business; or as a last resort, the regulator may take over the subsidiary all of which could have a material and adverse impact on the Company's results of operations and financial condition. In March of 2024, Citizens and the Colorado Division of Insurance entered into a capital maintenance agreement that specifies that Citizens will infuse capital as needed to ensure that CICA Domestic's RBC remains above 350%. Any required capital contribution could negatively impact our capital resources and liquidity. In our CICA Domestic business, we pay advance commissions on some of our insurance products, meaning we pay an agent a portion of their first year commission immediately upon sale of a policy, rather than "as earned", or when premiums are received by us. On a statutory basis, commission advances are non-admitted assets, which means that our expenses are increased and our statutory capital reduced until the commissions are recouped from premiums paid. This could cause us to have to contribute extra capital to CICA Domestic to maintain the required level of capital and surplus. Additionally, rapid growth in first year sales of these products creates a significant increase in commission payments, which reduces our available cash, negatively affecting our liquidity. We may seek options, such as loans at the holding company level (from the Credit Facility or otherwise) that would allow us to reduce the liquidity risk should CICA Domestic's commission payments exceed current resources or require additional capital contributions from Citizens. If we are unable to borrow money to contribute capital to CICA Domestic, we could be exposed to cash flow strain.

Legal & Regulatory

Total Risks: 1/12 (8%)Below Sector Average

Regulation1 | 8.3%

Regulation - Risk 1

We are licensed in and subject to regulation in Puerto Rico, U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Each of these jurisdictions have their own licensing and other requirements to do business in such jurisdiction. Failure to comply with all of these rules and regulations could cause us to lose a license, have a license suspended, or subject us to large fines, all of which would negatively impact our ability to do business.

In the U.S., we are primarily subject to regulation at the state-level. CICA International is registered in Puerto Rico and is subject to regulation by the Puerto Rico Office of the Insurance Commissioner ("OIC"). As a Puerto Rico International Insurer, CICA International is governed by Chapter 61 of the Puerto Rico Insurance Code. Additionally, CICA International must comply with other laws and regulations of Puerto Rico, most of which apply to our domestic subsidiaries as well, including U.S. federal laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act. The OIC and most U.S. insurance regulatory authorities have broad discretion to grant, renew, suspend and revoke licenses and product approvals. Failure to comply with a complex landscape of rules and regulations that apply to us could preclude or temporarily suspend us from carrying on some or all of our activities or result in substantial penalties. If we are unable to maintain all required licenses and approvals, or if our insurance business is determined not to comply fully with the wide variety of applicable laws and regulations and their interpretations, our revenues, results of operations and financial condition and our reputation could be materially adversely affected.

See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?

Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.

They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.

It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.

How do companies disclose their risk factors?

Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.

Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.

Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.

According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.

How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?

Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.

You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.

Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.

A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.

What are all the risk factor categories?

TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.

1. Financial & Corporate

Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.

2. Legal & Regulatory

Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.

3. Production

Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.

5. Ability to Sell

Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.

6. Macro & Political

Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.