Chaucer, a global specialty re/insurance group, and Crown Jewel Insurance, an insurtech and Lloyd’s Coverholder, are joining forces in a new partnership to provide insurance coverage for companies’ trade secrets.
According to a joint press release by the two firms, the product is the first of its kind to offer protection for the potentially huge loss in value a business can suffer if its trade secrets are stolen, made public or leaked to a competitor.
Crown Jewel suggests that an estimated 90% of the value of the S&P500 is intangible assets, of which only 15% are protected by patents or trademarks.
The insurtech adds that this means of the S&P500’s current $32.1 trillion market capitalisation, $24.6 trillion (77%) is made up of unprotected intangibles, such as trade secrets.
Examples of trade secrets include proprietary algorithms, designs, software code, formulas, and unique workflows and industrial processes.
Chaucer will be providing lead underwriting capacity for the programme, which will be brokered by Acrisure London Wholesale.
Meanwhile, Crown Jewel offers a full ‘Trade Secret Asset Risk Management’ product, called Crown Jewel Protector, which identifies, values, and offers recommendations on how to protect a company’s trade secrets.
Hayley Maynard, Head of Innovation at Chaucer, commented, “Prior to the launch of this product there was no insurance available for businesses’ trade secrets, leaving the vast majority of their value unprotected.
“Crown Jewel Protector provides significant additional peace of mind for businesses that their most valuable assets are secure.”
Zak Mallen, US Reinsurance Underwriter at Chaucer, added, “Chaucer is delighted to partner with Crown Jewel in this insurance industry first.
“Crown Jewel Protector fills a real gap in the market which we are confident will be highly sought after by listed companies and mid-market enterprises alike.
“This will be a huge benefit for all businesses, but for those who would not be able to afford litigation should their trade secrets be misappropriated, it has the potential to be transformational.”
Mary Guzman, CEO and founder of Crown Jewel, said, “The launch of this product is the result of a multi-year passion project that should allow for a trade secret protection ecosystem to develop, including not only insurance protection for a company’s most unique know-how, but the monetization of those assets that will allow lenders and investors to support and fund innovation with a backstop that was not available until now.
“Chaucer’s deep expertise in the market will be a valuable resource for Crown Jewel as we launch this ground-breaking solution.”
Tom Quy, Senior Vice President at Acrisure London Wholesale, commented, “Acrisure London Wholesale is proud to have sourced the capacity for this first-of-its-kind, innovative product, addressing an important commercial exposure which until now has gone uninsured.”
