Middle market companies are investing more in managing risk, but most of their leaders still don’t fully understand what their insurance covers, according to a new survey from broker HUB International.
HUB’s 2026 Middle Market Profitability & Resiliency Report found that 75% of senior leaders at mid-sized North American organizations don’t fully understand their current policies. Only 16% said they were fully confident in their insurance position.
“Business leaders are doing more than ever to manage risk, but our research shows that those efforts haven’t translated into clarity for which threat matters most or what their insurance coverage actually protects,” said Marc Cohen, HUB’s president and chief executive.
The gap has grown even as companies formalize how they manage risk. Three-quarters of organizations now have a formal enterprise risk management (ERM) program, up 14 percentage points from last year. But only 37% of leaders described their approach as mature and holistic, with open information sharing and collaboration across teams.
Most of that work is still driven by compliance. While 72% of organizations align risk mitigation with compliance requirements, only 30% said past, current and future risks shape their decisions. Only 17% said every employee shares responsibility for managing risk.
HUB described the pattern as “risk fatigue,” where repeated warnings and high-pressure events leave organizations less confident and slower to act. Confidence in managing risk fell in nearly every category the survey measured. Even so, fewer organizations said they were exploring new ways to use insurance.
Leaders didn’t single out one dominant threat to profitability. Cybersecurity topped the list at 45%, followed closely by operating costs at 43% and AI adoption at 38%. Macroeconomic pressures were cited by 37%, and regulatory and geopolitical challenges by 31% each.
The online survey asked senior leaders in industries including agribusiness, construction, education, financial institutions, hospitality, non-profits and real estate 18 questions. More than half worked at organizations with 500 to fewer than 2,000 employees, and most at organizations with revenue between $150 million and $1 billion. HUB did not publish the number of respondents in its release.
HUB has a commercial interest in the finding. A middle market that doesn’t understand its coverage is an obvious opportunity for a broker selling advisory services, and the report ends by setting out steps companies can take with expert help.
Still, the figure is a challenge for the whole broker channel. These are mid-sized organizations, most with formal risk programs, that already work with brokers. If three in four leaders still can’t say what their policies cover, coverage reviews, exclusions and limits aren’t being explained in a way that sticks.
With 2027 renewals approaching, the findings point brokers toward plain-language coverage reviews that link specific exclusions and limits to the risks clients say they worry about most, particularly cyber, where policy wording varies widely and understanding is often weakest.
