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Introduction
We are privileged to count as clients many of the most sophisticated venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms in the world. With the increased scale and leading technological capabilities delivered by our recent merger with Gallagher, we are excited to bring our longstanding leadership advising VC and PE clients into the next generation—now as Woodruff Sawyer, a Gallagher Company.
When evaluating high-stakes investments, our clients are invariably well-informed. General partnership liability (GPL) insurance—a critical risk transfer solution to protect company and individual balance sheets—should be approached with similar rigor. Our annual GPL Looking Ahead Guide is designed to help our clients and the industry stay informed about the key insurance trends that impact pricing, coverage, and claims outcomes.
Looking ahead to Q4 2025 and into 2026, key forces shaping the GPL marketplace include increased underwriting scrutiny, high defense costs, regulatory uncertainty, portfolio company uncertainty, and additional market capacity. Claims frequency and severity remain high for VC and PE firms, with issues most commonly arising from financial problems at portfolio companies, regulatory scrutiny of asset managers, and continuing overhang from special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) litigation. Defense and settlement costs remain high, driving significant losses for some insurance carriers.
In this year's Guide, our deep bench of expert brokers unpacks these trends, with a focus on insurance pricing dynamics, the changing regulatory picture, and the claims landscape. The Guide concludes with the results from our 2026 Underwriters’ Survey for an inside look at where the insurance market may be heading in the coming year.