MIDDLE MARKET: Chubb Identifies Clients’ Top Concerns

Report sees Cybersecurity, Economy,  and Compliance Issues Pressing Business Owners

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.­—Together with the National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM), which is housed at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, Chubb has published a summary of findings from the Middle Market Indicator (MMI) report. The latest poll was conducted in the second quarter of 2019, and explores macro trends – both current and emerging – plus business risks within the middle market. The summary measures past and predicted revenue growth, employment growth, economic confidence levels and business investment.

Many executives polled continue to express a conservative, optimistic outlook, with respondents reporting strong confidence in their local (89%; up from 88% in Q1) and national U.S. (82%; up from 80% in Q1) economies, with less confidence (69%; down slightly from 70% in Q1) and greater uncertainty about global conditions.

“The Middle Market Indicator measures the pulse of this important business segment across industries, signaling macro trends, gauging the perception of risk, and highlighting specific challenges evident within each industry,” said Paul Lewis, North America Industry Practice Leader for Commercial Insurance at Chubb. “With these insights, Chubb can better-serve middle market enterprises on the types of risk they face and how to best guard against them.”

Fifty percent of survey respondents believe risk for their company will increase over the coming year (up 1% from Q1), while 49% believe risk within their industry will trend higher over the same time period (up from 42% in Q1). Top concerns among executives polled include: cybersecurity (47%; up from 46% in Q1); legal, regulatory or compliance risk (41%; up from 35% in Q1); state of the economy at it relates to growth (40%; up from 32% in Q1); and competitive risks – whether domestic or new/disruptive competitors (39%; up from 35% in Q1).

“The middle market is vast, comprised of businesses across all industry segments and geographies, and represents 33% of private sector gross domestic product within the U.S.,” said Thomas A. Stewart, Executive Director of NCMM. “With more than $10 trillion in annual revenue, and representing one third of jobs within the U.S., the middle market is an important economic engine. By better-understanding the economic landscape along with emerging opportunities and risks, this segment can achieve new levels of performance, efficiency and optimization.”

About the Middle Market Indicator

Created and managed by the NCMM, the MMI surveys 1,000 C-suite middle market company executives across all industries on key indicators of past and future performance in revenues, employment and allocation of cash, reporting on economic confidence – locally, nationally and globally; identifies key business challenge areas; and measures how these are changing over time. The quarterly survey is designed to accurately reflect the nearly 200,000 U.S. businesses with revenues between $10 million and $1 billion.

The MMI summary report and other resources – including tools for agents and insureds – can be found within Chubb’s resource center.

About the National Center for the
Middle Market (NCMM)

The National Center for the Middle Market is a collaboration between The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, Chubb Limited, Cisco Systems, Inc., and Grant Thornton LLP. It exists for a single purpose: to ensure that the vitality and robustness of Middle Market companies are fully realized as fundamental to our nation’s economic outlook and prosperity. The Center is the leading source of knowledge, leadership, and innovative research on the middle market economy, providing critical data analysis, insights, and perspectives for companies, policymakers, and other key stakeholders, to help accelerate growth, increase competitiveness and create jobs in this sector.

Housed at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, the National Center for the Middle Market is the first center of its kind in the nation. The Center enthusiastically serves middle market firms, students, academic researchers, policy makers, the media and other key stakeholders with interests in the health and well-being of the middle market. The Center is fully committed to funding and distributing the most credible open-sourced research, dynamically creating new knowledge, providing programs that drive value for middle market companies, and offering a well-informed outlook on the health and future of the middle market via the Middle Market Indicator.

About Chubb 

Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London, Paris and other locations, and employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: chubb.com.