Vermont's Captive Count Hits 620 with 45 New Captive Licenses in 2021

Vermont licensed 45 new captive insurance companies in 2021, boosting the state's total number of captives to 620, up from 589 in 2020.

In a statement, Vermont officials said the state's 620 licensed captives include 589 active captives and 31 dormant captives.

The 45 new captive formations in 2021 was Vermont's fourth-highest year of growth in its 40-year history as a captive insurance domicile.

"Vermont continues to be a global leader in the captive industry and has proven, once again, to deliver high-quality regulatory insight and partnership that also meets the unique needs of captive businesses," Vermont Governor Phil Scott said in a statement.

The new captives came from 17 industries, with the main industries being health care, real estate, manufacturing, insurance, and transportation.

In addition, at least five of the new captives were formed by companies with international roots, including Japan, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Vermont regulators expect captive growth to continue this year.

"We issued 45 new licenses, and only 14 captives were dissolved due to mergers, acquisitions, and other business reasons. This speaks to the strength of captive insurance as a long-term risk management tool and is something we expect to continue to see with the continuation of the hard insurance market," Brittany Nevins, Vermont's captive insurance economic development director, said in the statement.

In all, Vermont has licensed 1,242 captives in its 40-year history as a captive domicile. Vermont remains the largest US captive insurance domicile and the third largest in the world.