SYDNEY, March 20, 2025 — 80% of directors and officers consider health and safety risks to be very important or extremely important to their organisation, according to the latest Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Survey by Willis, a WTW business, in collaboration with Clyde & Co. Physical workplace risks were deemed the most important by upwards by 43% of respondents, followed by employee mental health and wellbeing consequences stemming from work (28%) and from personal matters (12%).
In the global results, civil litigation and third-party claims were included among the top seven concerns for the first time since 2018, with 63% of directors and officers surveyed considering these significant risks to them. Smaller organisations (<$50 million in revenue) and those with revenues between $1 and $5 billion mentioned litigation more often. The largest organisations surveyed (>$5 billion in revenue) included diversity, equity and inclusion as well as bribery and corruption as top risks, while excluding the financial distress, bankruptcy and insolvency concerns of smaller organisations. In contrast, civil litigation and third-party claims ranked number nine for respondents in the Pacific.
Climate change is no longer considered a top seven risk in several regions, including Asia, North America and the Middle East. Similarly, in the Pacific, climate change fell out of the top seven risks, despite the introduction of mandatory sustainability reporting requirements in Australia.
In contrast, diversity, equity and inclusion, a risk that was included in the survey for the first time this year, has made its way into the top seven for Great Britain, North America and Africa. Social risks as a whole feature prominently in the list of concerns and, when looked at over a five-year period, the increase in concern is notable. For example, breach of human rights within or by business operations has risen from 23% of responders considering it a very or extremely important concern in 2021 to 62% in 2025. Similarly, concern about supplier business practices has risen from 27% in 2021 to 59% in 2025. In the Pacific, breach of human rights within or by business operations was one of the top seven risks.
Additionally, the Pacific was the only region in the global survey to record insolvency, bankruptcy and financial distress of an organisation in the top seven risks, aligning with statistics from local government bodies illustrating that corporate insolvencies continue to increase in Australia and New Zealand.
In general, there is a strong alignment between perceived material risks and board expertise and priorities. However, there is a notable exception when it comes to cybersecurity and data privacy, with many boards indicating more time is needed. Data loss and cyber-attacks, including extortion, are considered to be very important or extremely important for 83% of those surveyed in the Pacific. Artificial intelligence lags behind (only 42% of respondents in the Pacific consider it to be very or extremely important and considered by the fewest number of respondents to be material to the business while also being the lowest ranked issue on which respondents considered the board to have the relevant expertise), but this perception may change in the future as new use cases and regulations develop.
Patrick Beckett, Head of Executive Risks, Pacific at Willis, said: “The 2025 survey results highlight the breadth and weight of the challenges faced by directors and officers today. Increasing legislative reform, regulatory and shareholder scrutiny and individual accountability, are driving companies and their leadership to prioritise holding the best possible protection, at an appropriate cost. By integrating expertise, insight, and analytics into D&O insurance programmes, businesses can move forward with confidence.”
James Cooper, Partner and Head of Financial Institutions and D&O, Clyde & Co said: “The risk landscape for directors and officers is fast evolving and complex, driven by a multitude of factors from geopolitics to tech advancements and a challenging economic climate. Identifying the most critical risks and understanding where pressure points may appear is crucial in successfully navigating existing and emerging challenges. So too is ensuring that protections such as D&O insurance reflect this changing environment and can adequately cover areas where leaders may feel more exposed such as cyberattacks or data loss.”
Respondents include 765 global senior decision makers working in services, finance and insurance, healthcare, industry, energy and utilities and transportation and retail. Company size includes revenues of $5 billion or more (10%), $1 to 5 billion (15%), $50 million to $1 billion (33%) and less than $50 million (33%).
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Clyde & Co is a leading global law firm, helping organisations navigate risk and maximise opportunity in the sectors that underpin global trade and commercial activity, namely: insurance, aviation, marine, construction, energy, trade and natural resources. Globally integrated, the firm has 490 partners, 2,400 lawyers, 3,200 legal professionals and 5,500 people overall in nearly 70 offices and associated offices worldwide.
