Many of the risk management and insurance challenges the country's leading mid-market brokers are hearing about from their clients in 2013 have a familiar refrain.

Midsize companies' insurance purchasing decisions still are mainly driven by price, and capacity remains limited for buyers in certain high-risk industries.

“Even with all the talk about there being more capacity in the marketplace, midsize companies are still seeing some selectivity depending on the industry they're in,” said Scott Dillabaugh, president of Hylant Group Inc.'s Cleveland office. “We're seeing the most selectivity out of the transportation, construction and the polymer industries. There are only a few markets for each of those risks.”

Another persistent concern among mid-market clients across all industries is containment of both claims and costs, particularly those relative to workers compensation. According to the Council of Independent Agents and Brokers' quarterly study of commercial premium rates, one-quarter of companies surveyed saw their workers comp rates increase by as much as 20% in the second quarter.

“Workers comp tends to be the topic of greatest concern to our mid-market employers in the Midwest, particularly in Illinois,” said Michael Pesch, Chicago-based area president at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. “The difficult-to-place or underperforming accounts are likely still seeing significant rate increases; middle-performing employers are probably seeing renewal rates at flat to maybe a percentage point or two higher, and strong performers are probably seeing some relief in their rates.”

Certain specialty risks such as cyber and data breaches, supply chain failures and employment practices liability are becoming more frequent topics of conversation with mid-market clients, brokers say.

“A lot of our mid-market clients are outsourcing, which means they really have to have a handle on their contractual obligations to their suppliers and subcontractors,” said Trindl Reeves, San Diego-based principal and chief sales officer at Barney & Barney L.L.C.

“They need to understand who's responsible for what in the supply chain, and then build their risk management and insurance program around that understanding,” Ms. Reeves said. “That's a complicated process, and it requires a really thorough understanding of their business.”

According to a study published in August by Traverse City, Mich.-based data protection and privacy research center Ponemon Institute L.L.C., less than one-third of companies polled said their organization had purchased a cyber insurance policy. However, 57% of the companies without cyber insurance said they plan to purchase it in the future.

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“Practically any day, you can find an article on data breaches or something along those lines,” said Tane Abbott, San Francisco-based national leader of U.S. brokerage for Marsh Inc. “That said, there are still a lot of companies that don't buy insurance protection for it, and I think a lot of buyers still think they don't have much exposure to it because they've never had a direct loss in that area.”

Whether in lieu or support of traditional insurance products, brokers say mid-market companies are increasingly turning to them to provide services far beyond the transactional scope of insurance placement, and in many cases have come to think of their brokers as de facto members of their in-house risk management teams.

“We're in an environment where a lot of companies have had to cut back, and they're asking us for a lot of what we like to call "Day 2' services,” said Rusty Reid, president and CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based Higginbotham & Associates.

“Mid-market brokers need to not only assist their clients in putting in place sound risk management techniques and strong loss-control programs, they've also got to have people that can address and review concerns relating to their clients' contracts with third parties.”