Ben Fidlow of Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor, has been named a 2010 Risk Innovator by Risk & Insurance for his role in the development of IDEAL (Identify Damages, Evaluate, and Assess Limits), Marsh's new analytical model for directors & officers' (D&O) liability insurance programs.

IDEAL, developed by MBA—Marsh Business Analytics^SM, a unit of Marsh Risk Consulting dedicated to delivering analytic solutions to Marsh clients, and FINPRO, Marsh's financial and professional liability practice, provides enhanced decision-making support to risk managers when evaluating the structure of D&O liability programs for publicly-traded companies. IDEAL provides risk managers with detailed, predictive information to help analyze the range of settlement outcomes in securities class-action litigation—historically, the largest exposure for directors and officers.

"In the current economic environment, directors and officers face heightened scrutiny from several sources, including shareholders, regulators, employees, and the media," said Sandy Vietor, president of Marsh's Global Specialties. "IDEAL represents an inventive approach to D&O liability concerns, allowing for superior and proactive decision-making by risk managers, based on actual data. We’re proud of Ben Fidlow's selection as a 2010 Risk Innovator, reflective of his and Marsh's ongoing commitment to providing industry-leading solutions to its clients."

"During our most recent renewal phase, we worked closely with Marsh and used IDEAL to evaluate our directors & officers liability program," said John Luley, Corporate Insurance Manager for Pepco Holdings, a Washington, D.C.-based utilities provider. "IDEAL's user-friendly presentation of settlement information gave us confidence that we were making informed, data-driven decisions. IDEAL has helped PHI's insurance team and corporate board to build an effective and efficient D&O program, and we intend to use it again in future renewals."

Mr. Fidlow, National Practice Leader for Marsh Business Analytics, led the development of IDEAL along with colleagues Greg Spore, Risk Metrics and Analytics Leader in Marsh FINPRO; and Stephen Guijarro, a consultant in Marsh Business Analytics.

Introduced in January 2010, IDEAL provides a broad distribution of potential settlement outcomes, including average, median and worst-case values. Client-specific variables, such as market capitalization, industry sector, price/earnings ratio, and total assets, allow for more informed decisions regarding D&O limits and retentions.

"Marsh's new quantitative approach to evaluating all of the potential outcomes of a securities class-action suit gives clients an innovative way to analyze and determine the level of D&O coverage they really need,'' said Paul Bomberger, Editor-in-Chief of Risk & Insurance magazine.