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Captive | ART Service Providers
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What's New in the Captive Insurance Industry? |
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Captive
Daily Wire™ -- The captive insurance industry's premier news feed powered by LexisNexis™ updated daily by 3:15 EDT. Subscribe
or un-subscribe for e-mail delivery each afternoon or read online at captive.com
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| 6/18 |
Breaking Member News: Jeff Kenneson Joins Strategic Risk Solutions.
"Strategic Risk Solutions ("SRS") today announced that Jeff Kenneson has joined the firm as Senior Vice President - Client Development. Mr. Kenneson will co-ordinate the firm's business development efforts with a particular focus on expanding SRS's presence in the small captive market. He will also serve as President of Y-Bridge Insurance SPC ("Y-Bridge"). Y-Bridge, a Cayman Islands protected cell company, owns SRS's interests in various cell captive facilities, including Enterprise Risk Exchange (ERX), a Delaware based serial LLC and risk pooling facility, as well as Green Mountain Sponsored Insurance Company domiciled in Vermont...." [Downloadable version] |
| 6/18 |
Important federal regulatory news:
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| 6/18 |
Your opinions invited! There is an excellent article on Bloomberg News on the current kerfuffle going on re captives being used by large life insurers to transfer risk, along with a bit about the NAIC's position on these structuers.
Are these types of transactions a "shadow insurance" scheme as New York's Superintendent of Financial Services, Benjamin Lawsky, opines here? Or is his opinion pointing to more of New York's distaste for captives?
Will these transactions give our industry a black eye? Or, would it be more appropriate to ask, how many states have regulators on staff who have the expertise to regulate these types of structures effectively? Then, we also wonder whether the states with such expertise are the ones that the life insurers are actually using as their domicile of choice!
Read Lawsky's report, then have a look at Bloomberg News's, "Lawsky Call on Captive Insurers Questioned by NAIC."
 Captive.com invites responsible opinions on this important issue. E-mail me with your thoughts, and let me know if you would like them to be kept private or published. |
| 6/18 |
It's here, and it's an important issue! Following is the latest Weekly Investment Update from London & Capital. Anticipating the imminent meeting of the Fed, the current report is entitled, "The Fed in the Dock." Links to this and the preceding month's issues may be found on the Newsletters page in the captive.com NewsStand. Summary follows:
"The key event this week is Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech on Wednesday, where it is hoped he will provide greater clarity on a timetable for Quantitative Easing.
"In the US, the debate between defendants of an economic recovery and those that think the US is sinking into stagnation continues as mixed economic data was revealed last week.
"Negative signals came from flat industrial production figures and a decline in the Michigan’s consumer confidence index. However, positive data came from Standard & Poor upgrading US debt from negative to stable, US retail sales advancing in May and another decline in weekly jobless claims.
"In the Eurozone, industrial production unexpectedly rose 0.4% in April, although growth was held back by a fall in energy and consumer goods.
"On a sour note, the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index has cut Greece's classification to emerging market from developed market, making the country the first to suffer such a demotion.
"We continue to focus on corporates with strong balance sheets which benefit from both a stable income stream and opportunities for added capital growth in equities and fixed income." [Download full report] |
| 6/17 |
Have A Few Minutes? Brown Smith Wallace Introduces Strategic Cost-Saving Opportunities in Video Series. Firm Launches Brown Boarding Business Series to introduce busy executives to strategies that can strengthen the bottom line.
"'White boarding is out, Brown Boarding is in!' says Michael Bowlan, director of marketing at Brown Smith Wallace. 'Our new Brown Boarding Business Series uses video to introduce busy executives to key business topics in less than five minutes.' The first three episodes cover construction auditing, health care reform and captive insurance companies..." [Printable pdf version]
We have placed links to this series on the Learning Center and Captive Basics pages, and on the Brown Smith Wallace Data Sheet. |
| 6/17 |
Domicile News: Texas Captive Insurance Association Formed.
"With Governor Rick Perry’s signature on SB 734 by Senator John Carona, and Representative John Smithee, the Texas Captive Insurance Association (TCIA) has been formed to serve the captive insurance market in Texas..." [Printable pdf version] |
| 6/17 |
The Texas Captive Insurance Association (Yes, another TCIA!) has launched a fine new website that is still being "filled in" but even in its infancy is rich with information on both the association and its purposes and the new Texas captive legislation. The link to the Texas TCIA website has now been posted to the captive.com Associations page. |
| 6/17 |
SRS has just posted its upcoming webinar on a hot topic --The Case for Cell Captives-- on the Conference Calendar.
One of the most active areas of the captive insurance industry is cell captives. New structures have been developed and domiciles are changing legislation to keep up with the latest developments. While a lot of attention has been focused on the differences in structure, the real advantages of cells are not clearly understood. In this webinar, the presenters (Chip Bates from Amplitude Re, Jeff Simpson from Fournaris & Mammarella P.A., and from SRS, Patrick Theriault and Melissa Hancock, detail when and why to use a cell captive rather than a standalone owned captive. The webinar will be helpful for all current and prospective cell participants and any captive owners considering establishing or converting to a cell structure.
This event is scheduled for June 26 at 1:00 eastern daylight time. All SRS webinars are complimentary, but registration is required. More info and links are available from the Conference Calendar. |
| 6/14 |
Once again, Milliman has updated their information-rich captive insurance website with the latest Benefits Perspectives newsletter.
The topic for the current issue is, "Communicating Wellness for Results," focusing on worksite wellness initiatives.
The article begins, "In spite of the recession, from 2009 to 2010 the number of employers sponsoring a wellness program jumped from 58% to 74%, according to a 2012 report from the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services." Download this fine newsletter and many more from the Highlights menu on the right side of all Milliman website pages. |
| 6/14 |
Captive legislative and regulatory news: Cook Islands Passes Captive Insurance Act.
Cook Islands Financial Services Development Authority will be the regulatory body licensing and overseeing captives in the jurisdiction. Jennifer Davis, CEO of the Cook Islands Financial Services Development Authority and Paul Heckles, Commissioner of the Financial Supervisory Commission would appear to be good contacts. The phone numbers cited on the Cook Islands Finance website are (682) 21-175 / (585) 861-1160. No e-mail links are available on the website.
This link to the Cook Islands Captive legislation has been added to the Domicile Information page. This is apparently not a final version of the legislation, since the capital and surplus numbers are not included in the legislation. The only numbers I was able to find were penalties and fines for various infractions. I am not yet able to locate regulations, an application, or a primary contact to keep us all up to date with news from Cook Islands. |
| 6/14 |
North Carolina captive legislation has cleared all NC General Assembly hurdles and was today submitted to the governor for his signature. [Details here] |
| 6/14 |
A.M. Best Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Revises Outlook to Positive for The Mutual Risk Retention Group, Inc. "A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-“ of The Mutual Risk Retention Group, Inc (The Mutual) (Honolulu, HI)..." [More] |
| 6/12 |
World Captive Forum has announced that Barbara Casanova, CEO of Dynamic Development Advisors will be returning to assist with marketing and coordination of the 2014 event. Barbara is a thirteen year veteran on the captive insurance industry, specializing in the strategic marketing and business development for domiciles, associations and events. Please contact Barbara with any event inquiries and to reserve your conference booth or sponsorship. wcf@worldcaptiveforum.com. |
| 6/12 |
IRMI news: IRMI, WebCE and IAIP Award Scholarships at IAIP Convention.
Congratulations to this year's recipients! |
| 6/11 |
And live from Bermuda: Top Risk Advisor Provides Strategies for Volatile Risk Landscape at Bermuda Captive Conference.
Story begins, "The head of one of the world's top risk management advisors provided insight into managing change in the evolving global marketplace at the Bermuda Captive Conference today..." [Download full story] |
| 6/11 |
Captive conference report: This year's Bermuda Captive Conference began today, playing to just shy of 600 attendees, according to Bermuda's Royal Gazette Online. Since we couldn't be in Bermuda this year, here are links to some articles on the conference that we think you will enjoy:
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| 6/11 |
The Domicile Showcases page now includes links to the new (and very good!) captive regulatory website for Florida, as well as to the text of the Texas legislation that we cite below. We are awaiting links to regs, legislation, and other specifics that you will certainly want for Texas, and will let you know when we put up those links. |
| 6/11 |
European Association News: FERMA executive manager elected to association's board (Photo included).
"Florence Bindelle, executive manager of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), has been elected to the board of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE)..." Our congratulations to Florence and ESAE! |
| 6/11 |
Ongoing coverage of Texas captive legislation:
- Our thanks to Forbes.com for permission to link to a fine article published online yesterday, 6/10//13. The article, written by Jay Adkisson, is entitled, "Texas Adopts Captive Insurance Legislation But Beware." Jay articulates all of our concerns well indeed.
- Text of legislation (Thank you, Dale Fenwick, for finding this link to a clean bill. This link will be added to the Domiciles page today)
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| 6/10 |
 Another captive domicile, and this one is a biggie! This story is covered in today's edition of Captive
Daily Wire™, distributed by the Insurance Department via PR NewsWire:
Texas Senate Bill 734 authorizes the formation of captive insurance companies in Texas. Captive insurance companies will be required to pay a 0.5% premium tax, with a minimum premium tax of $7,500 and a maximum of $200,000 each year. Captive companies are also subject to maintenance taxes. The Insurance Commissioner can postpone or waive the imposition of any insurance fees or taxes for up to two years for any captive insurance company relocating to Texas. This bill will take effect if (or when) the Governor signs it."
Update: It appears that Governor Perry has wasted no time in signing the bill into law. Now, we wait to see whether the Department will hire regulatory staff with the expertise to make Texas a viable domicile long-term. With Eleanor Kitzman gone, it will be most interesting to see how they proceed. Developing...
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| 6/7 |
PricewaterhouseCoopers has just posted a career opportunity for a Tax Director - Captive Insurance - in their Chicago office. Interested in learning more? Visit the Positions Available page in the Career
Opportunities area at captive.com for more information on this position. |
| 6/7 |
Breaking Captive Legislative News: Tennessee Governor Haslam has signed new protected cell legislation, which was passed unanimously by both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly. [Download full story] |
| 6/7 |
Visit the Milliman website at captive.com to download their latest P&C Perspectives newsletter. This issue gives an in-depth report on the topic, "Lawyers Professional Liability Update. Insurers exhibit strong financial results but must remain vigilant." Use the Highlights menu on the right side of their pages to access this newsletter and more! |
| 6/7 |
Thinking about insuring your risks through a captive? The current issue of Wilmington Trust's popular Captive Insurance Brief explores the topic, "Choosing a Captive Startup Team." The article begins, "The success of a captive startup depends heavily on the skills and knowledge of its business partners such as captive managers, risk managers, actuaries, attorneys and auditors. Assembling the right team is critical to ensure that controls are in place to remain in full regulatory compliance while charting a path towards achieving its initial goals. .."
As always, I will leaving you hanging, and let you click through to read the rest of this helpful post. While you're there, you can also read older topics and download several white papers like How Reg. 114 Trusts Work, Captives 101 and Offshore to Onshore and the newest Wilmington Trust white paper, "Lifecycle of a Captive." Great stuff! |
| 6/6 |
Captive Domicile Legislative Watch: Mancini's Musings on
South Carolina H. 3797 Captive Legislation
We believe that South Carolina is poised to begin another period of impressive growth with H 3797 in the legislative pipeline. Who's expanding their South Carolina operations? What's in the bill? Find out here!
We will maintain links to this article on the Article Index page in the NewsStand, and on the Legislative & Regulatory page. |
| 6/6 |
Captive Association News: VERMONT CAPTIVE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION TO HOST LARGEST CAPTIVE INSURANCE CONFERENCE IN THE U.S.
Captive insurance professionals from throughout the United States and around the world will gather in Burlington, Vermont for one of the world's premiere captive insurance events, August 13 - 15, 2013 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center and the University of Vermont's Davis Center. The event is the 28th Annual Conference hosted by the Vermont Captive Insurance Association. [To full story, including conference highlights!]
We wouldn't miss this one! Hope to see you there... |
| 6/6 |
A.M. Best Captive Ratings Reports (yesterday and today, all 3 in downloadable format)
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| 6/5 |
An experienced captive insurance professional is seeking a new career opportunity, having posted his availability on the Candidates Available page in the Career
Opportunities area at captive.com. See "Finance Executive" posting for more info on this candidate. |
| 6/3 |
New to captives? Captiva Managers has just posted a helpful article that includes a clarifying diagram entitled, Captive basics - What is a Captive? written by Barbara Austin, an account manager at Captiva Managers.
We have made this article available from the following pages: Captive Basics, the News/Library Article Index, and the Captiva Managers Data Sheet. |
| 6/3 |
Association News from FERMA: Insurance law can be an enterprise issue. [Note: Story includes a link to a FERMA Position Paper on the 2013 Ernst & Young study on co(re)insurance practices - The future review of the block exemption regulation]
Story begins,
"Insurance law can be an enterprise-wide issue, so it's essential that legal experts and risk managers understand what happens when the law is applied in business, Jorge Luzzi, the President of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), said this morning (Monday 3 June)...." [More] |
| 6/3 |
The June issue of the Captive
Insurance Company Reports sounds like an exceptionally interesting read.
To see specifics on what's inside this month's issue of CICR, visit the Captive Headlines and the IRMI
index pages in the News/Library, then order
CICR direct from IRMI on captive.com's secure server! |
| 6/3 |
A.M. Best Captive Ratings [printable formats]:
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| 5/31 |
Captive conference coverage - Our thanks to Adam Forstot for sharing a brief recap of the USA Risk Group 8th Annual Executive Forum -- Effective Solutions for Changing Times -- which was held from May 21-23 at the Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte, NC. Sounds like another great event for USA Risk Group and all who attended! |
| 5/31 |
Captive industry movers and shakers: PERFORMA CONTINUES GLOBAL EXPANSION, ADDS HEAD OF CLIENT SERVICE TO LEADERSHIP TEAM.
"P.R.P. Performa (Performa), a global investment manager with more than $2 billion under management, is pleased to announce the addition of Sandi Prescott as its new Global Head of Client Service. Sandi joined Performa in late April and is responsible for managing all aspects of Performa’s client service process and team on behalf of the firm’s offshore and onshore clients, as well as handling a number of relationships directly..." [More]
Congratulations to Sandi and all our friends at Performa on this great news! |
| 5/28 |
Remember those occasional, brief Pulse Surveys followed by an analysis that we used to do? Captive.com is contemplating whether to resume Pulse Surveys or let this feature remain forever suspended in cyberspace. What do you think? Did you love them or hate them? Let us know your thoughts! |
| 5/28 |
Mancini's musing on South Carolina: Directly below this post is the second career offering in South Carolina in the last week or so. Very interesting. We are watching for considerable growth in this very friendly domicile that will accelerate on the passage of H3797, the domicile's amendments to their captive legislation.
South Carolina just launched a freshly-updated, easy to navigate website here. Also, watch captive.com for a summary of South Carolina's new captive legislation -- H3797 -- currently in the works in the SC Senate. I should have that up today or tomorrow. To bring you up to date, the bill passed the House 87 - 0 and is now in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. As of 5/23, the bill received a "Committee report: Favorable Banking and Insurance." Also see this page which gives the status of the bill as well as a link to the full text. Lookin' good! |
| 5/28 |
Captive career opportunity! USA Risk Group is looking for an accounting professional to work in either their Charleston or Greenville, South Carolina locations. Learn more about this opportunity on the Positions Available page in the Career
Opportunities area at captive.com. |
| 5/28 |
As expected, Eleanor Kitzman is no longer Insurance Commissioner in Texas. She has been criticized for being "too close to the insurance industry," and for failing to successfully deal with windstorm issues. We are anxious to hear where she will land, and wish her all the best.
The official press release from the Governor's office: Gov. Perry Appoints Rathgeber as Commissioner of Insurance. "Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Julia Rathgeber of Austin as State Commissioner of Insurance for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2015. The commissioner oversees the Texas Department of Insurance, which regulates the insurance industry and provides information and assistance to insurance consumers..."
Also see Insurance Journal report, "Texas Insurance Commissioner Stepping Down."
R Street Institute welcomes the appointment. “Julia is an experienced public servant with a strong grasp of regulatory issues,” R Street Texas Director Julie Drenner said. “We look forward to working with her on reform of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, and particularly to our proposals to increase the agency's transparency and limit its subsidies to the wealthiest property owners.” |
| 5/28 |
Room block deadline extended for the upcoming WRCIC. Reserve your room by 2:00 p.m. MST TODAY -- Tuesday, May 28th -- at the beautiful Westin Kierland Resort & Spa. Mention WRCIC to receive the special room rate of $189 for conference attendees. The conference takes place from June 10-12. Register now! |
| 5/24 |
A.M. Best Captive Ratings: A.M. Best Revises Issuer Credit Rating Outlook of Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd. "A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the issuer credit rating of “a+” as well as the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) of Nuclear Electric Insurance Ltd. (NEIL) (Wilmington, DE). The outlook for the FSR is stable..." [Printable pdf version] |
| 5/23 |
Our thanks to Spring Group for keeping the captive world informed of new developments in funding employee benefits in a captive. The company has just launched two new resources --
- An infographic laying out 4 advantages to funding employee benefits in a captive; and
- A detailed, downloadable e-Book entitled, Funding Employee Benefits: A Risk Manager’s Guide. This outstanding resource is complimentary, but a brief registration form must be completed prior to download. Topics include:
- CAPTIVE INSURANCE
- EMPLOYEE BENEFITS (Developments in Employee benefits; Using a Captive to Fund Employee Benefits; Using a Captive to Fund Retiree Medical Obligations; and, Using a Captive to Fund Pensions
- CRITICAL STEPS
IN
THE
CAPTIVE
DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS (Establishing a Captive for Employee Benefits)
- SUMMARY
- APPENDIX
- TWO CASE STUDIES!
Links to these two helpful resources will be maintained in the captive.com Learning Center and on the Article Index in the NewsStand. Great stuff! |
| 5/23 |
A.M. Best Captive Ratings:
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| 5/22 |
SAVE THE DATE and mark your calendars for The Symposium on Captive Insurance in Connecticut, scheduled for Wednesday, October 2, 2013, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the beautiful Sheraton Stamford Hotel in Stamford, CT. Download the printable flyer and make your plans for this event now!
Preliminary information on this event is now available on the Conference Calendar. Watch for enhancements as more information becomes available in the coming weeks. |
| 5/22 |
Domicile News: Singapore has updated their website! We have updated all the links to Singapore captive information on the Domicile Showcases page. |
| 5/22 |
Mergers and Acquisitions: Brown & Brown has agreed to acquire rival broker Beecher & Carlson. The purchase is a cash acquisition of $360 million, subject to an adjustment for working capital, according to a filing with the U.S. SEC. The transaction is expected to close in July. Brown & Brown reports that as part of this transaction:
- Steve Denton, Beecher Carlson's current President, will be named a Regional Vice President of Brown & Brown, Inc. and will serve as the CEO of Beecher Carlson.
- Dan Donovan, Beecher Carlson's current Chief Executive Officer, will serve as Executive Chairman of Beecher Carlson.
- Messrs. Denton and Donovan will both be actively involved in the day-to-day operations of Beecher Carlson and will also join Brown & Brown, Inc.'s Leadership Council.
Full information is available on the Brown & Brown website.
Also of interest to the captive insurance industry is an article in Bermuda's Royal Gazette, which expressed hope that Brown & Brown is likely to expand their Bermuda presence, which was minimal under Beecher & Carlson ownership. [To full article on Royal Gazette website] |
| 5/22 |
GlobalReinsurance.com reports that losses from the Oklahoma tornado are likely to fall between $2Bn and $6Bn. [To full article on GR.com website] |
| 5/21 |
This just in from Jerry Messick, Managing Director at Elevate Captives in Oklahoma City:
"We very much appreciate the outpouring of support during this time of emergency in Oklahoma City. We were fortunate that no loss of life was suffered by our staff. Certain staff members are working with the community and will not be able to respond to emails or calls for the next 48 to 72 hours.
"Should you need anything, please contact Natalie Dash at nd@elevatecaptives.com or David Kotowski at dk@elevatecaptives.com.
"Thank you again for your support and prayers."
We continue to lift up the people of Oklahoma in our prayers during this time of horrific loss.
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| 5/21 |
The current London and Capital Weekly Investment Update -- Global Growth: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly -- is awaiting your downloads. Visit the Newsletters page in the captive.com NewsStand for links to more recent editions of Weekly Investment Update. This week's highlights include:
- Over the past few weeks, there has been a heightened level of market sensitivity (volatility) in light of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) setting out a strategy to curtail asset purchases.
- This Wednesday sees Chairman Bernanke’s testimony to Congress which he will outline US economic projections and potential Fed activity.
- So far in May, UK data has indicated further recovery as inflation has fallen with employment rising.
- However in Europe, the GDP story was weaker than forecast, as the Eurozone contracted by 0.2% during Q1 2013 – the 6th successive quarterly contraction.
- Japan’s quantitative easing programme has led to a 0.9% rise in Q1 2013 GDP with both exports and domestic consumption rising strongly.
- We continue to focus on corporates with strong balance sheets which benefit from both a stable income stream (well in excess of low deposit rates) and opportunities for added capital growth in equities and fixed income.
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