D&O rates for U.S. public companies decline in second quarter: Marsh

Marsh’s publicly-traded clients in the United States on average paid 4.9% more for their primary directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O) coverage in the second quarter, the company said Thursday.

However, average D&O premiums declined 0.97%, with a median decrease of 4.43%, when normalizing for individual insurance program structure and risk profile differences, according to the firm’s briefing.

The briefing compares traditionally benchmarked insurance price changes to benchmarked prices that have been risk-adjusted. For the second quarter, “average risk-adjusted primary and total program D&O rates fell in nearly all market cap segments,” Marsh said.

Brenda Shelly, D&O product leader at Marsh, said in a statement that underwriters remain concerned about merger objection claims, corporate regulatory investigations, and compliance and enforcement activity.

“However, clients are still able to obtain favorable terms, conditions, and pricing, especially on excess program layers,” she added.