Over half of respondents conveyed getting better language as a "most important" priority for this year. Over half of respondents conveyed getting better language as a "most important" priority for this year. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Directors and officers (D&O) are most concerned about cyber risks and employee-related risk, according to the 2018 Willis Towers Watson Management Liability (Directors and Officers) U.S. Survey.

When looking at perspectives from specific respondent roles (risk managers, CFOs, CLOs), cyber ranked as a top concern for all, while CFOs and legal compliance respondents largely had moderate to great concern over employee claims. Regulatory and enforcement risks also weighed on the minds of nearly half of the respondents, and multinational/cross-border risks resonated with most CFOs in this survey.

Related: Who's on board when it comes to cyber resilience?

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Insuring D&O concerns

Public companies overwhelmingly (91%) purchase D&O insurance as a stand-alone line of insurance coverage.

Eighty-three percent of public respondents' D&O programs typically contain both traditional "A-B-C D&O" insurance (protects the insured persons and the organization) and excess "Side-A only" above the A-B-C coverage.

Private or not-for-profit organizations tend to purchase D&O insurance as part of a multi-coverage package, linking D&O coverage with employment practices liability, fiduciary liability and/or other related coverages like crime or cyber insurance. About one-third of private company respondents, however, require that D&O coverage be purchased separately, meaning not as part of a larger package.

Related: D&O issues with blockchain, cryptocurrencies & ICOs

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What's covered?

Over half of respondents conveyed getting better language as a "most important" priority for this year. Seemingly in contrast to Willis Towers Watson's "risk perceptions" results, 72% of respondents do consider insurance for shareholders/investors claims to be "moderately to very important."

This year's survey reflects that D&O risk stakeholders care about much more than just their insurance program's price. While insurance program costs do matter, carrier selection, relationships, breadth, clarity of coverage and claim-handling proficiency are all important priorities.

The Willis Towers Watson 2018 Management Liability (Directors and Officers) U.S. survey includes responses from 77 executives from various companies, representing a wide range of industries and geographic regions.

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Denny Jacob

Denny Jacob is an associate editor for NU PropertyCasualty360. Contact him at [email protected].

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