Category Archives: Brittany Nevins

Happy Holidays!

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As we close out the year it is a great time to reflect on the last 12 months – or longer. It certainly has been a challenging year for all of us, but I can say without reservation how grateful I am to have been a part of this great industry for the past 12 years.

The friends I have made as head of VCIA are amazing. All of you have made my job joyful which is not something everyone can say, I know. You all know how fabulous the folks who work in the captive insurance space at the State of Vermont are – truly a pleasure to work with Dave Provost, Sandy Bigglestone, Dan Petterson, Christine Brown, Becky Aitchison, and Brittany Nevins.

VCIA’s Board of Directors day in and day out have provided their time, energy, guidance, and friendship through a year where they had to face many challenging decisions. My thanks to Andrew Baillie, Donna Blair, Joe Carter, Lawrence Cook, Tracy Hassett, Stephanie Mapes, Gail Newman, Jason Palmer, Dennis Silvia, Anne Marie Towle, and Derick White.

And to work with the great staff at VCIA in these tumultuous times has shown me just how wonderful they all are. Thank you so much Diane Leach, Elizabeth Halpern (who leaves us at the end of the year – sniff), Peggy Companion, Janice Valgoi, Dave Rapuano, and Meg Precourt for everything!

Even in these uncertain times, we are looking for a brighter future with 2022 and it gives me such comfort to know what good people there are out there.

Happy Holidays!

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

Hail to 40 Years!

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Vermont’s 40th anniversary year of the inception of its captive industry is drawing to a close. Since 1981, Vermont has worked hard to be the top U.S. domicile and continues to strive for excellence. Currently, VCIA is working with Dave Provost and Sandy Bigglestone and their team at DFR to build another captive bill to be introduced into Vermont’s General Assembly.

Over the past two years of COVID challenges, the Gold Standard has never been so apropos as Vermont lead the captive insurance industry in incredible growth and resiliency. I could not be prouder to be a part of this great work.

Brittany Nevins, in her role as Captive Insurance Economic Development Director, has put together a terrific short film highlighting relationships, accomplishments, future goals—and really what it means to be part of the Vermont captive family. I hope you will watch and encourage you to share.

Stay well and see you soon!

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

Member Mixer

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Thank you to all our members who joined us this past Wednesday evening for VCIA’s open board meeting, DFR Q & A, and Mixer. It was so nice to see people gathering once again, even if somewhat cautiously, for VCIA’s first in-person event since the beginning of COVID.

Besides hearing the litany on how many legislative items we are watching down in DC that will likely not move this Congress due to the continued gridlock, members got to hear Dave Provost and Dan Petterson from Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation provide an update on their work and changes in the future that they will see.  Brittany Nevins , Vermont’s Director of Captive Marketing, screened a new video she produced extolling the virtues as Vermont as a captive domicile for members. It was a terrific piece that will be used in the State’s marketing efforts going forward. One of the “stars” of the video was VCIA new board member, Joe Carter, from United Educators, who did a super job outlining what makes Vermont so special for captive owners.

Dave provided an update on the number of captives being licensed this year and it sounds like its going to be a record breaker. Over 40 have been approved to date and we usually see a wave of applications toward the end of the year as organizations scramble to get their captives licensed. That said, we could easily hit 50 new captives this year. A good year for new captives licensed in Vermont is usually around 25. Another interesting note, DFR is seeing far fewer dissolutions and redomestications out of Vermont then normal, meaning that current captives are not only happy but thriving. Dan reported that DFR was fully staffed and ready to take on the workload that these new captives promise.

The reception was a terrific way to cap off the day with an opportunity to see and say “hi” to many of our old and new friends alike. A special shoutout to former board member, and good friend, Ed Koral who traveled all the way from New York City to joins us that evening. I think the prize for the greatest distance traveled for the event was by Andrew Zoller, the new Head of International & Captive Solutions – US Commercial Insurance for Zurich North America, who flew in from Dallas.  Welcome to the family, Andrew!

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

Stay well and see you soon!

The British Are Coming… And It’s Cool

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We in the captive insurance realm have fond relations with our British friends in the industry – I mean let’s face it, you can’t go to a captive event anywhere without bumping into an ex-pat.

But this past week, it was nice to meet Peter Abbott, Her Majesty’s Consul General at the British Consulate General Boston and members of his team to talk things captive insurance. The meeting was facilitated through Brittany Nevins, Director of Captive insurance for Vermont’s Department of Economic Development and included Christine Brown, Deputy Director of Captive Insurance for Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation.

Consul Abbott was making several virtual visits throughout the New England states to meet with leaders from key industries in each of the states – and naturally, captive insurance interested them the most out of all of Vermont’s industries.

We gave them the fascinating history of captive insurance in Vermont as well as discussed possible trade cooperation between the UK market and Vermont captives. And although there is already much collaboration between the U.S. captive industry and the London insurance world, it is always good to strengthen these ties.

Don’t forget registration is now open for VCIA’s Annual Conference this August. Click here for more information!

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.  

Rich Smith
VCIA President

RIMS

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Normally at this time, I would be looking forward to travelling to one of the great cities in the U.S. to take part in the mega-insurance event known as RIMS. Even though we will not be luxuriating in a convention center while pining for a breath of the outdoors this year, the State of Vermont, VCIA and our members will be staffing the virtual Vermont booth starting next Monday.

Brittany Nevins is captaining our ship, that includes Dave Provost, Sandy Bigglestone, Dan Petterson, Christine Brown, and others from Vermont’s DFR; Janice Valgoi and myself from VCIA HQ; and a smattering of captive professionals from Vermont. Normally, over 10,000 attendees stalk the cities hosting this behemoth, but with RIMS going virtual, there is still an opportunity to meet with Dave, his team and the rest of us.

We will be hanging out in our virtual booth so come on by if you are attending. Sure, there won’t be the dinners and receptions, but we are still a lot of fun!

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you soon.  

Rich Smith
VCIA President

Kickin’ it Off!

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Great kickoff event for the 40th Anniversary of captive insurance in the State of Vermont this week. Each year in January, VCIA Members visit the Vermont State House for our annual Legislative Day. This special event highlights the successful working relationship between our Association and the State’s elected and appointed leaders.

This year, we switched to a virtual Legislative Day due to the pandemic and it was one of the most popular we have hosted! We started the day with a Q&A session from the leadership team at the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s Captive Division. They reviewed recent events and changes at DFR, as well as answered questions on what they saw on the regulatory horizon.

Midafternoon, DFR Commissioner Mike Pieciak hosted an hour-long captive industry review, highlighting 40 years of innovation and superlative regulation in Vermont. Mike also talked about how members of the Captive Division and others in DFR had taken on important roles in tackling the COVID-19 emergency in the State – the Governor drew on the expertise and competence of Mike and his department in modeling the pandemic as well as assisting in the distribution of COVID resources to Vermonters.

DFR’s Dave Provost and Sandy Bigglestone provided an overview of the captive industry in Vermont to legislators, members and guests attending, followed by Brittany Nevins, Captive Insurance Economic Development Director at Vermont’s Agency of Commerce, who gave the economic and market report. Yours truly did a quick summary of VCIA, before passing the baton to Julie Bordo, President & CEO, PCH Mutual Insurance Co. Inc. (RRG), who hit it out of the park with a presentation of her captive program and the important role Vermont has played in its success.

The final event was a zoom meeting with VCIA members and the new leaders under the gold dome. Lt. Gov. Molly Brown, Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, and Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint shared their valuable time with us talking about the issues and priorities they see ahead for the State of Vermont.  The enthusiasm they all brought to our meeting with our members contributed enormously to the success of the day.  Sen. Balint recounted the time as a new member of the Senate Finance Committee she reported out the captive bill on the Senate floor with a song! (Something she had to apologize to her colleagues for later 😊).

The cherry on top (literally) is that the State of Vermont provided a Lake Champlain Chocolate Thank You Gift Basket to a randomly chosen attendee of Legislative Day. The winner was our good friend Adam Dubuque of Johnson Lambert who has been in the industry for 18 years – almost half of the 40 years captives have been in business in Vermont! Yikes 😉

Thank you again to all of you who joined us this week. I look forward to hearing from you.

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

Woo-hoo! It’s Official: Vermont Kills It in 2020

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The numbers are just in and Vermont rocked it last year with the number of new captives licensed in 2020.  Vermont licensed 38 new captive insurance companies in 2020, bringing the state’s total number of licensed captives to 589.  A “normal” good year for Vermont in terms of new captives is usually between 20-25; so, 2020 was a banner year.

Sure, the hard market in the traditional insurance industry helped drive the surge, but let’s give credit where credit is due: Brittany Nevins, Vermont’s new captive insurance economic development director!

OK, she had some help from the all-star line-up at Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation. You know the crew: Dave Provost, Sandy Bigglestone, Christine Brown, Dan Petterson, and the wonderful team in the Captive Division. And she might have had help from Vermont’s vaunted captive insurance service providers and captive managers who helped facilitate this blistering pace. But Brittany jumped right into the job, and without missing a beat, picked up right where Ian Davis (her very successful predecessor now at Peoples United Bank) left off. In a year when everything else was less than ideal, it is nice to celebrate a huge success!

Don’t forget to see Brittany and the DFR team in action next Wednesday during VCIA’s Annual Legislative Day, held online this year.  On January 27th, VCIA Members will hear updates from DFR and ask probing questions; attend a presentation kicking off the 40th anniversary of the captive industry  in Vermont; and have a chance to hear from the new leaders in the State of Vermont and ask them probing questions as well!

And if all that hasn’t got you interested; the State of Vermont is providing an exclusive Legislative Day giveaway: all registrants will be entered for a chance to win an awesome Lake Champlain Chocolates Gift Basket – so what are you waiting for!

Please RSVP to megan@vcia.com if you can join us on January 27th for Legislative Day. I hope to “see” you there! Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

40 Great Years… and Many More to Come

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Seems like just yesterday, but this is the 40th Anniversary of the captive insurance industry in Vermont! In 1981, the Vermont Legislature passed the Special Insurer Act, which was designed to provide a unique and attractive statutory framework for captive formation. As most of you know, this landmark law and subsequent amendments and regulations have become the model of captive regulation.

As a way to kick off the 40th Anniversary, VCIA and the State of Vermont will be hosting the Members-Only annual Legislative Day on January 27, 2021, but instead of our members traipsing down to Montpelier, we will be hosting the event online. 

The event will start off with Dave Provost, Sandy Bigglestone, and their team at the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) hosting a Captive Division update that will review any new or upcoming regulations, other DFR news, and answer any questions members might have.

Then, DFR Commissioner Mike Pieciak will host a one-hour webinar with Vermont legislators and members to celebrate the 40th anniversary of captive insurance with an overview of captives by Dave Provost and his team, a report from Vermont’s Captive Insurance Economic Development Director Brittany Nevins, a quick update on VCIA by yours truly, and then a presentation by Julie Bordo, President & CEO, PCH Mutual Insurance Co. Inc. (RRG), a Vermont-domiciled captive owner.

Our final event will be a Zoom meeting with Vermont’s political leaders. Members will get a chance to hear from these leaders, many new to their positions, on what their priorities are for the upcoming year. They will also be able to ask them all those questions they have been saving up just for this occasion!

And if all that hasn’t got you interested; the State of Vermont is providing an exclusive Legislative Day giveaway: all registrants will be entered to win an awesome Lake Champlain Chocolates Gift Basket – so what are you waiting for!

Please RSVP to megan@vcia.com if you can join us. I hope to “see” you there! Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Rich Smith,
VCIA President

Welcome Brittany!

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I want to say a HUGE welcome from the Vermont captive insurance community to Brittany Nevins. As many of you have heard, Brittany recently joined Vermont’s Department of Economic Development as the new Captive Insurance Economic Development Director. She will be taking over from the estimable Ian Davis, now over at Peoples United (but still in our captive community!).

Brittany will be responsible for the marketing and business development of Vermont’s captive insurance industry, working closely with the Department of Financial Regulation and VCIA to continue to strengthen the state’s reputation as the premier onshore captive insurance domicile.  We have already had several calls and zoom meetings with hew and she is going to be great!

Located in Texas for the last 2 plus years, Brittany served as a community and economic development specialist for Travis County, Texas, managing its property tax rebate program for businesses that sought to develop in the Austin region. Prior to that, she was a policy specialist for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, where she provided support for a variety of agency regulatory programs.

On top of all that, having lived in Latin America for a little while, Brittany is also fluent in Spanish. And as VCIA and the State of Vermont continue to explore connecting the Vermont captive industry to the Latin American risk management marketplace, it will come in handy. Although, she did warn me translating our nomenclature, such as non-domiciliary reciprocal risk retention regulations, will not just flow off her tongue! And it coincides nicely with next week’s Online Captive Trade Mission with Mexico which VCIA and the State are hosting on September 30th.  By the way, this event is free for VCIA Members – details here.

So, please take a minute to say “hi” to Brittany and welcome her into our wonderful community, like you did for me ten years ago. Her email is brittany.nevins@vermont.gov.

Thanks, as always, for your continued support in these trying times. I look forward to hearing from you!

Rich Smith
VCIA President