Fitch Publishes Directors and Officers Liability Dashboard

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings has published a new Dashboard Report that discusses pricing trends, market dynamics and key drivers of recent results in the U.S. directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance market.

D&O is a relatively concentrated insurance market segment, with the 10 largest U.S. writers accounting for nearly 70%, or $4.5 billion in direct written premiums.

D&O insurance results for the industry were largely stable in 2014 with a slight decrease in the direct loss ratio to 49.3% from 49.8% in the prior year. Contributing to the stable loss ratio is a continuation of declining claims and claims costs.

Heightened competition in public company D&O is leading to weaker pricing particularly in excess cover layers. Private entity D&O is still experiencing overall rate increases due to past loss experience.

Favorable loss reserve development trends continue. Statutory data for the Other Liability - Claims Made (OLCM) business segment is a useful proxy for the D&O insurance segment. OLCM loss reserves developed favorably in each of the last five years.

The 'Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Dashboard' is available on Fitch's website at 'www.fitchratings.com' or by clicking on the link.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Dashboard

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=864676

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Source: Fitch Ratings