Insurance Marketplace Realities 2025 Spring Update – Fiduciary Liability

Rate predictions: Fiduciary Liability

	Trend	Range
Commerical (defined contribution or benefit plan assets up to $50M)		-5% to +5%
Commerical (plans asset $50M to $500M)		Flat to +5%
Commercial (plan assets above $500M)		Flat to +5%
Financial institutions		-5% to +5%

Key takeaway

After a period in which some carriers moved away from fiduciary, there emerged enough carriers with increased appetites to create improved and stabilized market conditions. In some cases, D&O insurers are looking to get on the fiduciary towers as well. Premiums have continued to level off, with the most common result being flat renewals and sometimes reduced retentions. If excessive fee filing volume picks up further, that (combined with the very recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Cornell University excess fee case) could create upward pressure on pricing in the second half of 2025.

Slight improvements as more insurers look to build their books

• A recent increase in the number of markets interested in writing primary fiduciary liability policies has been the main driver of modest decreases in premium, though more accounts have been renewing flat.
• Particularly with commercial and large nonprofit (university and hospital) risks, underwriters apply enhanced scrutiny to defined contribution pension plans with assets greater than $250 million, with some carriers avoiding plans larger than $1 billion. Even smaller plans can cause concern because a few smaller plaintiff firms have targeted them, but some carriers are now easing up on retentions for such plans.
• Insurers regularly seek detailed information about fund fees, recordkeeping costs, investment performance, share class, vendor vetting process and plan governance, causing some insureds to seek assistance from their vendors in filling out applications. Carriers look for frequent RFPs/ benchmarking, little or no revenue sharing (with caps), little or no retail share classes, few actively managed funds (not QDIA), limited M&A activity.
• Recent excessive-fee class actions involving a health and welfare plan have caused increased scrutiny on such plans.
• Other areas of recent increased carrier inquiry include mortality tables and plan forfeiture policies.
• Brokers are having some success in getting credit for positive risk factors, including level of delegation, quality of advisors and favorable venues.
• Some carriers have created specific coverage (often by endorsement) for pooled employer plans, while others haven’t yet done so.
• Retentions: Insurers continue to be more focused on retentions than on premiums. Although retentions of seven figures remain commonplace for specific exposures (prohibited transactions/excessive fees) and sometimes applicable to all mass/class actions at certain plan asset thresholds, there have been improvements. Some carriers are offering opportunities to “buy down” retentions somewhat.
• Coverage breadth seeing some expansions: Other than increasing retentions, carriers haven’t generally been restricting coverage. It should be noted, however, that terms can vary substantially. Several carriers have become receptive to offering coverage enhancing endorsements.
• Capacity management: Most carriers are closely monitoring the capacity they are putting out, and $5 million primary limits continue to be more common than $10 million.
• Rate prediction qualification: Rate increases may be higher or lower depending on the insured’s existing pricing. We expect to see flat renewals continuing to be common. Price per million of coverage can vary substantially among risk classifications.

Download the full fiduciary liability report below.

Disclaimer

WTW hopes you found the general information provided here informative and helpful. The information contained herein is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in lieu of consultation with your own legal advisors. In the event you would like more information regarding your insurance coverage, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. In North America, WTW offers insurance products through licensed entities, including Willis Towers Watson Northeast, Inc. (in the United States) and Willis Canada Inc. (in Canada).

Contacts

---

Lawrence Fine

Management Liability Coverage Leader,
FINEX North America

email Email phone +1 212 309 3623

---

John M. Orr

D&O Liability Product Leader, FINEX NA

email Email

---