Cowbell vs Heffernan Insurance Brokers Fiduciary Liability Insurance

Cowbell distributes Zurich’s Select Plus fiduciary module; Heffernan places the line for businesses and family offices without naming a carrier.

What Is Cowbell Insurance?

Cowbell is a specialty-insurance platform and agency focused on cyber risk for small and midsize businesses. Its U.S. catalogue also includes combined Technology E&O and cyber products and a Zurich management-liability offering distributed through appointed wholesalers. 1,2,3

Read the Cowbell profile

What Is Heffernan Insurance Brokers?

Heffernan Insurance Brokers is an independent, Walnut Creek–headquartered retail brokerage that arranges business insurance, employee benefits, and related services. Its technology practice markets to mid- and late-stage companies, including venture-funded and pre-IPO firms. 5,6,7

Read the Heffernan Insurance Brokers profile

What Is Fiduciary Liability Insurance?

Fiduciary liability insurance addresses covered claims alleging breaches of duties in managing employee benefit plans. 9,10

Read the full coverage guide

Key Differences in Fiduciary Liability Insurance

Who Carries the Risk

Cowbell runs the quoting platform for Zurich’s Select Plus product, and Zurich underwrites the fiduciary module on admitted paper. Heffernan is a broker: it places fiduciary liability with insurers for two practices and does not issue the policy. 4 3 7 8

Who the Product Is Built For

Cowbell aims the module at private companies with fewer than 250 employees and under $50 million in assets, in industries such as manufacturing and technology. Heffernan lists the line for ordinary business clients and, separately, for family offices, trust companies, trustees, advisors, private equity firms, foundations, and other financial institutions. 4 7 8

How You Reach Coverage

You cannot buy the Cowbell module as a business; appointed Zurich E&S wholesalers access it through Cowbell’s API. Heffernan’s family-office fiduciary placement goes through a named Private Client Group specialist, while its general business listing routes through a contact form. 4 8

What the Reviewed Pages Describe as Coverage

Cowbell defines the module as protection against claims from breaches of fiduciary duty on employee benefit plans such as a 401(k) or health plan. Heffernan’s family-office page lists fiduciary liability beside D&O, professional liability, EPL, and trustee liability, without describing insuring agreements or exclusions. 4 8

What to Confirm in Fiduciary Liability Insurance Quotes

  • Ask which Zurich entity would issue a Cowbell Select Plus fiduciary module, and which insurer Heffernan would place for your segment. 3 7
  • Confirm whether Heffernan is quoting through its business-insurance desk or its family-office practice, since the two use different intake paths. 8
  • Get limits and retentions in writing; neither Cowbell’s nor Heffernan’s reviewed pages publish them. 4 7
  • Ask Heffernan what a Risk Management Assessment would cover for your plans, and whether Cowbell’s placement includes any plan-review service (its reviewed pages do not describe one). 8 3

Offering Details

Cowbell vs Heffernan Insurance Brokers Fiduciary Liability Insurance: documented features by provider

CriteriaCowbell / Zurich Select Plus Fiduciary LiabilityHeffernan Fiduciary Liability Insurance
Role in This Line

Fiduciary liability is one module within Cowbell's distribution of Zurich's Select Plus management liability product; Cowbell operates the platform, Zurich underwrites the module. Zurich's own page lists 'Fiduciary Liability' as one of the four modules a buyer can combine. 4,3Company-reported. Management liability page intro and module list; Zurich page module-name section.

Heffernan places fiduciary liability coverage within its general corporate/executive-protection lineup and again within a dedicated family-office and financial-institution practice. It shops and places the coverage with insurers rather than underwriting it. 7,8Company-reported. Business Insurance and Family Office page listings; no dedicated fiduciary-liability product page was found.

Issuing Insurer

Cowbell and Zurich both say the Select Plus modules, including fiduciary liability, are written on Zurich admitted paper. Zurich's site footer names 'Zurich American Insurance Company' in its copyright notice, but neither page states that entity is the specific policy issuer for this module. 4,3Company-reported. Management liability page intro; Zurich page intro and footer.

The reviewed pages do not name the insurer or insurers that issue fiduciary liability policies Heffernan places for either business clients or family offices. 7,8Not publicly disclosed. Business Insurance and Family Office pages as read on 2026-09-23.

Who It’s For

Cowbell targets this fiduciary module at private companies with under 250 employees and under $50M in assets, across the same target industries listed for the broader Select Plus product, such as manufacturing and technology. 4Company-reported. FAQ 'What size accounts are targeted?' and Target industries list.

Heffernan offers fiduciary liability to two named segments: general business clients through its business-insurance brokerage, and family offices, trust companies, trustees, financial advisors, private equity firms, foundations, and other financial institutions through its family-office practice. 7,8Company-reported. Direct practice-page listings; no minimum size or asset-under-management threshold was published for the coverage specifically.

Coverage Features

Cowbell describes fiduciary liability as protecting against claims arising from breaches of fiduciary duties related to employee benefit plans, such as a company's 401(k) or health plan. 4Company-reported. FAQ 'What is the difference between management liability and D&O?'.

On the family-office page, fiduciary liability insurance is listed alongside directors and officers, professional liability, employment practices liability, trustee liability, and other management-liability-adjacent lines as coverage the practice can arrange, without describing the policy's insuring agreement or exclusions. 8Company-reported. Family Office page as read on 2026-09-23.

Limits and Retentions

Neither the Cowbell page nor Zurich's own Select Plus page, both read in full, publishes fiduciary-liability limit or retention amounts. 4,3Not publicly disclosed. Cowbell page and Zurich page, both read on 2026-09-23.

Neither page publishes a fiduciary-liability limit, retention, or premium range. 7,8Not found in reviewed sources. Business Insurance and Family Office pages as read on 2026-09-23.

Risk Services

Both Cowbell and Zurich describe the Select Plus product generally as backed by 'the reputable Zurich Claims service'; neither reviewed page describes a fiduciary-specific service such as plan-compliance consulting. 4,3Not publicly disclosed. Management liability page intro; Zurich page intro, both read on 2026-09-23.

Heffernan's family-office practice describes a Risk Management Assessment: itemizing a client's structures, assets, and exposures; crafting insurance and risk-management strategies to close coverage gaps; and helping navigate claims, for its fiduciary and financial-institution client base. 8Company-reported. Family Office page as read on 2026-09-23; a company-described service, not a measured outcome.

How to Apply

This fiduciary module is accessed only by appointed Zurich E&S wholesalers through the Cowbell platform's API; it is not sold directly to businesses. 4Company-reported. FAQ 'How can I access the Zurich Select Plus management liability product through Cowbell?'.

The family-office practice's fiduciary-liability coverage is reached through a named Private Client Group specialist contact rather than a self-service online quote flow. 8Company-reported. Family Office page as read on 2026-09-23; the general business-insurance page's fiduciary listing routes through Heffernan's general Contact Us form instead.

Full Comparison

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Sources

Cowbell

  1. Cowbell. Cowbell; What We Do; Assess, Insure, Respond and Improve; U.S. navigation; footer legal disclosure. Accessed 2026-09-15.
  2. Prime Tech Product Overview. Cowbell; PDF pp. 1–4: non-admitted combined Technology E&O and cyber for technology businesses up to $1 billion; up to $5 million; surplus lines in 50 states; edition PRIME TECH US0001 1025. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. Small and Midsize Business Management Liability | Zurich Select Plus. Zurich North America; Intro on the Zurich/Cowbell collaboration; module name 'Fiduciary Liability'; FAQ 'What is the difference between management liability and D&O?' (identical to Cowbell's page); Targeted industries list; footer copyright. Accessed 2026-09-23.
  4. Management liability coverage for small & medium enterprises. Cowbell; FAQ 'What is the difference between management liability and D&O?' (Fiduciary Liability definition); Target industries list; FAQ on access and account size. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Heffernan Insurance Brokers

  1. Our Story. Heffernan Insurance Brokers; Headquartered in Walnut Creek; nationwide presence; founded 1988; employee owned; niche practices including technology. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. Technology Company Insurance. Heffernan Insurance Brokers; Pre-IPO and venture-funded heading; mid to late stage specialization; global expansion copy; self-insurance strategies; Key Markets list; Why Heffernan broker history; Joseph Talmadge practice leader; FAQ. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. Heffernan Business Insurance Brokerage. Heffernan Insurance Brokers; Corporate and executive protection, such as employment practices liability, directors and officers liability, fiduciary responsibility, cyber liability, and kidnap and ransom are also available through our comprehensive business insurance programs. Accessed 2026-09-23.
  4. Family Office. Heffernan Insurance Brokers; We serve: Family offices, Trust companies, Individual and professional trustees, Financial advisors/CPAs/attorneys, Private equity firms, Foundations, Financial institutions; Coverage for Family Offices, Trustees & Financial Firms: ... Fiduciary liability insurance ...; Risk Management Assessment section; contact Lacey Garrison. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Fiduciary Liability Insurance Guide

  1. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2008-04: Guidance Regarding ERISA Fidelity Bonding Requirements. U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration; Q2 pp.2–3. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. Fiduciary Liability Insurance. Travelers; What Is Fiduciary Liability Insurance? Accessed 2026-09-16.

Updated . Spot, a product of Tools for Enlightenment, publishes this research and works in the commercial insurance market. The comparison applies the same criteria to both providers. Editorial policy. To suggest a correction, contact Spot with the page URL and supporting source.

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