Big Four adopt tech, hire more to meet rising risk advisory demand

Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY say business feel greater need for regulatory compliance after the coronavirus

The Big Four accounting firms in India see booming demand for risk advisory services for regulatory compliance, prompting them to hire more people and focus on technology.

According to Manoj Kumar Vijai, office managing partner and head of Risk Advisory at KPMG in India, the coronavirus pandemic reinforced the importance of robust enterprise risk management. "The increasing requirements of the current regulatory environment and the heightened focus on compliance have intensified the focus on risk and compliance," he said.

Sivarama Krishnan, partner and leader of Risk Consulting at PwC India, said technology disruptions, geopolitical events and climate change have prompted business leaders to make proactive investments in risk management. "The frequency of disruptions has also increased, often with global ramifications and repercussions across the business value chain," he said.

Another factor may be businesses are confident about India’s economic growth and the government’s Make in India campaign for domestic manufacturing.

"Higher capital expenditure investments have resulted in the need for managing third-party risks and monitoring capital expenditure programmes," said Rohan Sachdev, consulting services leader at EY India.

According to executives at Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY in the past few years, the perception about risk management has changed. Businesses now focus not only on mitigation, but also using risk as an opportunity for transformation.

"Risk management is becoming an integral part of how organisations manage their businesses to capitalise on growth opportunities," said Anthony Crasto, president of risk advisory, Deloitte South Asia.

"Progressive organisations are also viewing risk from a 'value-creation' standpoint rather than just value protection or preservation," said Krishnan of PwC India.

Risk advisory has become one of the fastest-growing businesses for the accounting firms in India, prompting them to hire people specialising in that field and adopting technology for it.

"At KPMG in India, we are proactively addressing this heightened demand by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and data analytics to offer tailored risk solutions," said Vijai.

EY India said it has more than 125 partners in the risk advisory business, which has grown at an annual rate of 30 per cent in the last three years. "Across our risk solutions, we've embedded data and technology to help clients pre-empt and address risks early on," said Sachdev.

PwC India, which clocked 30 per cent growth last year in risk advisory, has 100 partners and executive directors in the business. Of these, 40 were hired in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Deloitte South Asia’s risk advisory has more than 90 partners and executive directors and is working on expanding the business.

"Elevations will happen as we have a very strong cadre of professionals who can get promoted as partners and executive directors," said Crasto, adding his company is looking for acqui- and lateral hires.

Crasto said that Deloitte South Asia’s risk advisory services could double in the next two to three years. “We can see a significant amount of growth anywhere in the range of 35 to 50 per cent year-on-year in risk advisory services like cyber, sustainability, financial risk, enterprise risk management, etc.," he said.

"We believe this demand will continue given the ever-increasing complexity of the business landscape," said Sachdev of EY India.

In high demand
 

 Risk-advisory business at EY India has risen 30% for the last three years
 

 PwC India clocked 30% growth in risk advisory last year, added 40 new partners and EDs
 

 KPMG India says its recruitment pipeline for this business is 'very healthy'
 

 Deloitte South Asia says its risk advisory business could double in the next 2-3 years
 

 Risk advisory has become one of the fastest-growing businesses for the accounting firms in India