A new Accenture survey of executives has noted a skills gap in risk management, with one in two respondents identifying insufficient training and recruiting strategies as key challenges.

“Risk Management for an Era of Greater Uncertainty” study indicates demand for such talent has become more apparent because risk management’s significance to the C-suite has risen in recent years, Accenture said Thursday.

“Risk management is being pushed up the list of organizational priorities by external factors, from the political upheavals in Egypt and Syria, to the supply chain issues triggered by natural disasters, to Dodd Frank and Basel III regulations, as well as ongoing volatility in customer and financial markets,” said Steve Culp, global managing director for Accenture Risk Management.

“While these factors have led to increased internal demand and greater integration of risk management into decision making, talent shortcomings are hindering organizations’ ability to successfully execute and mitigate the risks to achieving business objectives,” he added.

Skills shortages in risk analytics and capabilities has weighed on performance falling short of expectations, the survey said.

Other talents in short supply are risk business and data analytics, risk technologists, regulatory change program management, pricing and risk quantitative skills and risk operations specialists.

Culp also noted that the lack of analytics skills in risk management was of particular concern.

“Technology plays a critical enabling role but highly qualified talent is needed to ensure the successful application of these tools to improve risk management capabilities,” Culp said.