Two recent lawsuits alleging director and officer liability have also called for board refreshment because of culpability. This emerging strategy to pressure directors to settle exposes directors to going-forward personal financial and reputation loss that is rarely covered with conventional liability insurance and is not yet widely covered with reputation insurance.
Governance today is a balancing act necessitated by the backlash to ESG and DEI policies. Searches for “reputation insurance” are surging.
![Moral hazard has stalled progress in reputation risk insurance, but parametric solutions could help insurers meet growing demand and seize new opportunities. [...] The global reputation crisis can help carriers appreciate how parametric technology can accelerate solutions for emerging risks.](https://steelcityre.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parametric-technology-The-key-to-unlocking-reputation-risk-insurance-intelligent-insurer.jpg)
Moral hazard has stalled progress in reputation risk insurance, but parametric solutions could help insurers meet growing demand and seize new opportunities. […] The global reputation crisis can help carriers appreciate how parametric technology can accelerate solutions for emerging risks.
Is Reputation Risk Beyond Control and Oversight? Interest in reputation insurance surged 700% in December 2024.
Warhola: The Steel City Re Cocktail of the Year, 2025. Andy Warhol (nee, Warhola) claimed that “art is whatever you can get away with.” Does this foreshadow one of the unintended benefits of effective expectation management? Click on the image for the formula and mixing directions.
Reputational risk remains one of the most fearsome risks that board members and their institutions can face. Thousands of executives overseeing public firms are now just one reputation crisis away from losing all their board seats as well as future business opportunities. Captives may be a solid way of managing those risks.
Investors are not good predictors of reputation value loss. At crisis day 155 for Crowdstrike, Boeing, and Southwest, the firms’ equities were -1.4%, -36.4%, and -26.8%. vs S&P500.
Boeing Company reputation crisis day 351. Equity is down 50.9% to peers; Steel City Re’s average observed losses on day 351 is 8.2%. Implications for manufacturers are illustrated in Steel City Re’s 16 April podcast: https://shorturl.at/kEfVL
Governance experts including the National Association of Corporate Directors and other authorities are encouraging boards to support management more closely in an “uncertain — and possibly volatile — environment,” even at the risk of appearing to micromanage. But with engagement comes culpability for the reactions of already-angry stakeholders. Simply put, the costs of leaning into a reputation crisis may include the dispensation of board members whose personal losses will not be covered by D&O liability insurance. Board members need personal reputation insurance.
Boards…will need to nudge their risk managers and insurance carriers to present reputation insurance options. Podcast: https://www.directorsandboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ReputationRisk.mp3