Category Archives: Captive Insurance

VCIA2023 Conference Preview II: Where Captive Content is King

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It’s the early stages of the Internet. The year is 1996. Some chap by the name of Bill Gates pens an essay in which he declares “Content is King” and bets that the value of information and entertainment creation will astronomically drive the Internet’s growth. Close to thirty years later his prophecy holds true. What’s my point? Well, related to the captive conference experience, the educational material and the leaders who teach that material, are critical. This Monday, May 15th marks the official launch of #VCIA2023 registration. For those really itching to register, head on over to vcia.com now and you just *might* be able to already 😉 … With our interactive discussion groups, collaborative forums, and in-depth educational presentations, I’m proud to say the Captive Content is King at the #VCIA2023 Conference.

The conference schedule is set and I encourage you to peruse our jam-packed itinerary here. A big thanks needs to go out to VCIA’s 2023 Conference Task Force, led by Chair Aaron Hillebrandt of Pinnacle Actuarial Resources. A focused, tireless group, they have given their time, talent and professional network to produce a comprehensive lineup of educational topics, paired with the best speakers from the industry.

As you know, captives are formed by so many diverse organizations. Moreover, there are so many subsets and functions that a captive has in serving its parent group. The #VCIA2023 schedule reflects this wide-range of subjects by offering “everything under the sun” that concerns captives, including:

  • The latest captive trends and emerging risks
  • How cyber impacts captives
  • Inflation on your captive portfolio
  • The power of reinsurance
  • The all important medical stop loss
  • Claims management
  • Parametric coverage
  • Board engagement and inspiration
  • With a grand total of 21 CPE/CRE/CLE-eligible educational sessions—3 more than 2022!

#VCIA2023 opens its doors to everyone! Starting Monday, May 15th, be sure to register for America’s largest captive gathering. See other domiciles, meet vendors and service providers, connect with captive owners…

That’s not all. #VCIA2023 captive content will deliver on the fundamental concepts for captive formation and management; for that, do attend Captive Immersion, Captive 101, Newcomer’s Guide to the Industry Part I and II, among others. The speakers, who are practitioners themselves, will also provide real-world examples, case studies, and tactical methods for how they problem solved specific challenges that arose for their captive and parent organization. It’s common place to say that our captive conference is for beginners and veterans alike – but it’s true! Even more, the conference content creation was built out and designed to meet the needs of all captive professionals, from one year on the job to thirty.

#VCIA2023 opens its doors to everyone! Starting Monday, May 15th, be sure to register for America’s largest captive gathering. See other domiciles, meet vendors and service providers, connect with captive owners; if you’re new to the industry, we have conference ambassadors, and the Vermont Captive Insurance Emerging Leaders group will be on hand. We’re not kidding when we say #VCIA2023 is Where the Captive World Comes to Meet! Let conference registration begin!

Captive Corner: VCIA Interview Series, 2. Jamie Feehan

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Captive Corner: VCIA Interviews Industry Experts

Jamie Feehan, Government Relations Director and VCIA Legislative Advocate at Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC

primmer.com / Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer LinkedIn Page

Jamie Feehan is a dear friend of the VCIA and plays a major role in our legislative efforts on the state level. For this year’s Legislative Day, he kindly answered some questions so VCIA Members could get to know him and how he supports their captive interests. We now publish Jamie’s interview in its unabridged form, which details how a captive bill is put into law. As of this writing, the 2023 Vermont captive bill is pending but anticipated to be signed into law by Governor Phil Scott without any issue.

Thank you for all the great work you do, Jamie!

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your background?

I am Jamie Feehan, and am the Government Relations Director at Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC, a Burlington firm. I am the firm’s lead lobbyist on behalf of our clients that have an interest in Vermont legislative and regulatory matters. I’ve been with Primmer and its previous iterations for about 25 years. Prior to that, I worked on Capitol Hill for a Congressman from Maryland for several years. I have also done political campaign work for that Congressman and for others here in Vermont.

What is your relationship to VCIA and how do you support the association?

I have been working with the VCIA on its Vermont legislative and regulatory initiatives for most of the time I’ve been at Primmer. That includes working with Kevin and his predecessors, the VCIA Board and its Legislative Committee.

Members highly value legislative advocacy. Can you share why it’s so important and what goes into it?

Vermont is the country’s leading domicile for captive insurance and among the world’s leaders. Reaching that point is not without effort and there are many reasons for that success, including legislative advocacy. This includes annual captive insurance legislation that continuously adds new features and tools to the captive statutes, or down to the basic amendments to existing law that make the law operate more smoothly for captives and practitioners. The Vermont Legislature understands how important the captive industry is to Vermont, and that there are other domiciles that would like to have similar success, even at the expense of Vermont. Getting the Legislature to have that understanding is the result of the efforts of the VCIA and DFR in educating legislators of all political stripes on what captive insurance is, and what it means to Vermont. This may be tied to legislative initiatives, VCIA Legislative Days, and more. This educational effort and advocacy is continuous as the faces in the Legislature change, and as the captive insurance industry evolves.

Why is VCIA’s Legislative Day an important process of legislative advocacy on the Vermont state level?

It really ties to the educational effort the VCIA undertakes to help position the captive industry for success in the Legislature. It is our chance to put a face on the industry through attendance by captive owners, management folks, attorneys, and others in the industry – who can each explain how captive insurance plays a role in their professional lives. Moreover, it is a chance for legislators to see and hear of examples of captive owners, the reason a captive was formed, the types of business put through the captive, and the reason Vermont was chosen as a domicile. Most legislators will not know what a captive insurance company is or does, but they (hopefully) learn enough from interactions on Legislative Day, and through their colleagues on committees that dive deeper into captive insurance, that it is something they should embrace and continue to foster.

Vermont is the country’s leading domicile for captive insurance and among the world’s leaders. Reaching that point is not without effort and there are many reasons for that success, including legislative advocacy. This includes annual captive insurance legislation that continuously adds new features and tools to the captive statutes, or down to the basic amendments to existing law that make the law operate more smoothly for captives and practitioners. The Vermont Legislature understands how important the captive industry is to Vermont

There are a lot of new faces in the Vermont House and Senate this year.  What implications does that have for the VCIA and how we represent the interests of members?

Vermont is a citizen legislature made up of folks who either have the time and flexibility to serve, or take a leave from their job to serve while the Legislature is in session – and frankly throughout the year. This model doesn’t necessary promote the “career” politician and results in frequent turnover among the 180 members. Through a confluence of events, a third of that 180 is new this session. For that reason, the VCIA needs to double-down on its educational and outreach efforts with the Legislature and its members to again position ourselves for success with the new Legislature.

Can you share what kind of captive developments you expect to see in the State for 2023?

I could probably characterize the amendments to the captive law under consideration this year as largely technical or housekeeping in nature. Nevertheless, they do represent the constant tweaks I referenced that keep Vermont’s laws fresh and operationally smooth. They also give the Legislature exposure to captive insurance in the form of legislation. The Legislature has come to understand they are an important cog in Vermont’s success story by being responsive to legislative needs of the industry and regulators. In fact, the veterans there have come to expect annual legislation. Plus, you never know. There’s always time for more significant initiatives to be introduced while the Legislature is in session!

Notes from The NAIC Spring National Meeting

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To keep up to date and foster mutual good will, VCIA maintains many relationships with associations related to insurance and captives, specifically. One such prominent organization is The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which was founded in 1871 (!) and serves as standard-setting organization for the chief insurance regulators from all 50 states. NAIC offers informed expertise, data, and analysis for “insurance commissioners to effectively regulate the industry and protect consumers.” I attended the NAIC Annual Spring Meeting, this year in Louisville, and report back with some interesting findings.  

You may ask, why did I attend the NAIC Meeting? Simply put it is important that we stay on top of the activities of this group as they directly impact the way in which captives and RRGs operate within the broader insurance markets that the group is concerned with. Now, onto my findings.

First off, this meeting is HUGE!  So big that despite the fact that the Vermont DFR had a delegation there, I only saw them from a distance! 

Second, there is great information provided that is well-researched over a long period of time and has quite an impact on different insurance sectors. For example, in 2021 private residential flood policies issued were up 29% in number over 2020.  While the impact on this is primarily within the consumer sector, the businesses around where the consumers live are subject to the same climate-driven risks, and it serves as a reminder how interconnected insurance can be to different entities.

Third, we get early warning as to future direction for the NAIC and what this might do for captives.  An example of this was seen in the Financial Regulation Standards and Accreditation (F) Committee and their work on the group capital calculation (GCC).  There were a number of comment letters considered at this meeting and a revised GCC will be up for adoption at the Summer National Meeting of the NAIC, with a recommended adoption date of 1/1/2026. VCIA will keep monitoring this and share any news with members as it develops.

Finally, as with all quality conferences, I developed some personal connections that will prove valuable to VCIA and its members. I had several discussions with insurance company general counsels, NAIC staff members and others as we explored matters of mutual interest.

Thank you Jeff Klein for your guidance at NAIC!

I was also fortunate to have Jeff Klein as my chaperone!  Jeff is the VCIA’s representative on NAIC matters and reports back monthly to our Legislative Committee. We continue to be proactive in anticipating captive needs and challenges, and our ability to have the Legislative Committee and members informed, thanks to Jeff and so many other diligent folks, assures that the future directional intent for regulation is in safe hands!

Recapping a successful, historic VCIA Trade Mission to Mexico City

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Mexico and Vermont. Aside from the glorious Cabot Habanero cheese (which likely has no content from Mexico!), the links might not be immediately apparent. But we are working on fixing that in the captive insurance space, and it started with VCIA’s triumphant Trade Mission to Mexico City, as our Vermont contingent established quality relationships with our Mexican counterparts that will last for years.

This week has been the most incredible and positive experience for the expansion of both the industry and Vermont as a domicile. I will be providing an in-depth debrief with our member-exclusive special report coming out in the near future, but for now, there are some major highlights that I want to share as we close our memorable visit.

The Roadshow: Many of you reading this may have either participated in or attended a roadshow, but this international one had a different flavor. Simultaneous translation being the most obvious distinction! Before a full room of about 100 attendees, panels and speakers not only reviewed the Vermont process for establishing a captive, but also covered Mexican tax and regulatory implications.  The audience had a great many well-developed questions, and were clearly keen to explore both the background and the applicability to their own insurance challenges.

The meetings: Multiple meetings with trade associations, government entities and business groups revealed the appetite that there is for captives in Mexico. The desire is there and VCIA and Vermont have pledged our investment in figuring out how captive solutions can work for Mexican companies.

The people: The entire delegation has been impressed with the cordial and cooperative attitude of everyone that we have encountered. This trade mission was about forging relationships in Mexico, and I’m confident these partnerships will continue to grow and yield great captive opportunities for Mexico and the Green Mountain State. Bonus if we get some Mexican friends to come out our Annual Conference in August!

Before…about 100 attendees, speakers not only reviewed the Vermont process for establishing a captive, but also covered Mexican tax and regulatory implications.  The audience had a great many well-developed questions…and were keen to explore the background and the applicability to their own insurance challenges.

VCIA President Kevin Mead on the successful Mexico City Trade Mission

The VCIA, the DFR, the DED and our facilitators from within the federal government can all be proud of how we represented Vermont and the industry this week.  All of us have an extensive to-do list, with lots of substantive follow up, not just thank you notes.  We are convinced that this is a market where Vermont can offer tangible value to Mexican entities, and I am looking forwards to providing you with a special briefing on this in the very near future.

VCIA Staff at Full Force and Ready to Serve!

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A Happy Staff after Lunch!

This week the VCIA Staff met for a daylong meeting at one of our favorite places: Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. And it was a special occasion, as we met for the first time with our two superlative new hires, Ella Stevens, Bookkeeper/Administrator, and Jocelyn Lamb, Accounting Manager. We were placed in the Strauss Meeting Room, and an obligatory recording of The Blue Danube was played!

Since VCIA went fully remote at the end of 2022, we’ve made sure to plan in-person staff gatherings at least once a month in order to build staff chemistry and develop those intangibles that are crucial for a close-knit small staff. This February meeting was all about gearing up for our busy season, when conference registration comes onto the horizon. 87 days until you can register for #VCIA2023, and 171 until the first day of the conference!

Time and time again I’m reminded why our staff is an invaluable asset serving members, stakeholders, and the entire captive industry. Whether it’s the deep institutional knowledge harnessed by our triumvirate Diane Leach, Peggy Companion, and Janice Valgoi, or the ingenuity and creative thinking that our younger staff employ, our staff is versatile and leaves no stone unturned in how we help members and optimize our services.

No other captive domicile or captive association can claim such a robust and effective staff force meeting the needs of its members and expanding its reach. It’s why VCIA is ready to hit full stride as we hit spring (just 31 days!) and gear up for conference preparation and promotion. As always, we’re available to listen to your needs and and provide you the best member experience!

VCIA Welcomes Two New Staff Members!

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Please welcome Ella Stevens, front left, and Jocelyn Lamb, front right, two new VCIA hires!

Last week, I recapped VCIA’s successful Legislative Day and emphasized just how valuable our legislative advocacy is to our members and to the industry. Well, I offer another VCIA asset that’s just as and if not more valuable…and that’s our tireless staff! VCIA can proudly say we are fully-staffed and able to not only strengthen and grow our association, but meet the needs of our 400+ members. Not many other captive associations can say that. And so please give a warm welcome to Ella Stevens, VCIA’s new Bookkeeper and Administrator, and Jocelyn Lamb, our Accounting Manager! Let’s get to know them.

Meet Ella Stevens, VCIA’s Bookkeeper/Administrator Ella began working with VCIA earlier this month and she’s doing so while completing her last semester at Saint Michaels in Colchester. She will be graduating with an honors bachelor degree in accounting and business administration, and our staff and Board were extremely impressed about how she can handle such a workload while learning and absorbing so much at VCIA. Says Ella: “This is my first professional job out of college and I’m excited to get into accounting on a real-world basis, understand the Vermont captive industry, and interact with VCIA members.” Fun fact? She’s an avid runner and runs at least 3 miles a day every day of the week! I personally can’t say the same…

Meet Jocelyn Lamb, VCIA’s Accounting Manager Where Ella is new to the Vermont captive industry, Jocelyn Lamb is a veteran and has years of experience, thanks to her 11 years at Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation as an examiner and regulator. We’re lucky to add Jocelyn’s great talents, and she’s extremely happy to stay in the industry. Says Jocelyn, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with VCIA and to experience captive insurance from an additional perspective. I really look forward to hitting the ground running with our close-knit staff!” Fun fact? Jocelyn and her family operate a 3,000 tree sugar bush and sell maple syrup each year – you can’t get much more Vermont than that!

It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with VCIA and to experience captive insurance from an additional perspective. I really look forward to hitting the ground running with our close-knit staff!

VCia’s new Account Manager, Jocelyn Lamb

Please be sure to welcome Ella and Jocelyn as you see them in the year ahead; they will be an integral part of accomplishing our goals, not least of which is a successful Annual Conference in August. The work begins now!

Captive Corner: VCIA Interview Series, 1. Joe Carter

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Captive Corner: VCIA Interviews Industry Experts

Joe Carter, VP of Business Development and UE Experience at United Educators, and VCIA Board Member

ue.org / @UnitedEducators / United Educators LinkedIn Company Page

United Educators is a reciprocal risk retention group that provides the insurance coverage needs of more than 1,600 members ranging from large university systems to small, independent K-12 schools. Joe Carter’s responsibility is to set the strategy for UE’s growth. This includes planning the business development and distribution strategies that ensure success. He is also responsible for teams that manage UE’s brand and constituent experience strategy, the Voice of Constituent (VOC) program, digital experience, member support, marketing, and communications. Joe recently was elected to the Board of Directors at VCIA, and we sat down with him to ask a few questions.  

1. Tell us how you got involved with insurance and risk management. How did you come to UE?   The early days in my professional journey were rooted in large commercial insurance companies with fantastic training programs for new employees. I began by handling first and third-party claims in an environment best described as “rapid fire” for America’s second largest insurance company at the time. I had the rare opportunity to rotate through other functions of the company including underwriting, risk management consulting, front-line sales management, and leadership coaching. Then I started an independent insurance agency/brokerage that I grew and sold to a larger agency owned by a regional bank. After a couple of additional executive leadership roles, I found this wonderful Risk Retention Group (RRG) captive that focused on education, a sector that I think is so important to our world. Joining United Educators was a chance to apply all my experiences to lead UE’s business development strategy, marketing, and member experience – a home run opportunity for me.  

2. UE is celebrating its 35-year anniversary. What do you provide your members?   We continue to deliver the third-party liability coverages that drove our creation by educational institutions in 1987. A significant part of our work is delivered well before any claims call comes in. We research and build training, loss prevention courses, and risk management tools that not only help prevent bad things from happening, but also help institutions prepare for bad things that are likely to happen. We are proud that these risk management resources are highly valued and utilized by educational institutions. Our resolutions team partners with institutions as soon as there is a concern about a potential claims matter. They help strategize early, while taking a Cool Head, Warm HeartŽ approach to resolving claims that recognizes the value of the relationships our members have with their students, staff, and communities.  

All captives need to focus on their differentiation from commercial markets and think hard about why they exist. There needs to be a shared understanding about what captives are really accomplishing for their owners. I believe captives have a unique opportunity to help owners to see risks that lie ahead using trends from a purer set of data and experience.  


3. What have you seen in the time you have been there? Can you tell us a little about the culture at UE?    There are many liability lessons from education claims over the 35 years: preparation is as important as seeking prevention, active and early intervention usually is more effective than the “wait and see” tactics we’ve seen used by other carriers, and treating claimants with respect and empathy is an important part of loss mitigation, to name a few. Our culture is shaped by being member-owned. We’re serving members amid upheaval of the education sector, market fluctuations, and skyrocketing claims and defense costs. Enjoying a personal connection to our members drives an ethos of excellence in member service.  

4. What are some of the challenges you see today for your members and what innovations is UE bringing to them to meet those challenges? We see several challenges that have been pervasive with new ones emerging. In recent years, we’ve monitored how demographic shifts are affecting enrollments and the top lines for many institutions. And we all think about the financial and operational risks going forward for tuition-dependent institutions. There are also real concerns about keeping campuses operating as healthy and safe environments for in-person learning. Most campuses, including K-12 sites, are concerned about student mental health for good reasons. And many are concerned about employee mental health as we transition through the next phase of this pandemic. And there is the ever-present challenge that all employers face in managing risks such as employment and misconduct issues involving high-profile and highly-valued employees. In the education arena, these include coaches, researchers, faculty, presidents, or trustees. UE’s risk research and resolutions teams work constantly to develop useful tools that help break these complex exposures down into tactical and useful programs that help campuses effectively plan and train administrators, employees, and students on staying healthy and safe.  

5. What are some of the challenges facing UE as an organization and the captive insurance/RRG industry as a whole?   UE faces many of the same challenges that most providers do. We are seeing loss inflation that goes beyond just a rise in the average cost of a claim or even a category of claims. The rise in claims costs and awards reflects a societal trend that is punishing institutions of any type without regard to the nexus between bad verdicts and the rising costs of insurance going forward. Insurer investment strategies aren’t delivering much return in recent environments, so there is great pressure to underwrite and price your business accurately and on time. That is a hard pill for owners to swallow during times of rising loss costs. All captives need to do their best job of speaking this truth to their owners. And when we are doing this correctly, owners understand that the captive’s health is directly tied to their ability to manage risks and losses. All captives need to focus on their differentiation from commercial markets and think hard about why they exist. There needs to be a shared understanding about what captives are really accomplishing for their owners. I believe captives have a unique opportunity to help owners to see risks that lie ahead using trends from a purer set of data and experience.  

6. Why does Vermont fit UE’s mission and business plan as your domicile of choice?   I believe that one of the best things that Vermont does for domiciled captives is allowing and encouraging open dialogue. They do a really good job at getting to know the organizations doing business in and around the state. They show up at industry conferences not just to speak and deliver content, but to also listen and learn. That’s a level of engagement that allows them to be helpful to innovation while they ensure compliance. No one wants to see bad captives formed or operating in the market. I believe Vermont’s approach to engagement keeps the marketplace respectable and healthy for consumers of these services.  
All captives have that opportunity to focus forward to give owners more research, more knowledge, more attention, and better service than any other option in the market.

7. What are you most proud of as you look back over the past 35 years for UE?   There are many things that I could talk about. It is impressive how our captive and its membership have grown so much since I joined. The staff I have the pleasure of working with and learning from every day are smart and bring a rich diversity of experience. They work collaboratively and challenge us leaders to think hard, consider much, and act decisively. We’ve also been working hard to foster and improve our culture of inclusivity. I am proud of how our teams contribute in many ways. And we’re just getting started. I know we will continue to grow our culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.  

8. Is there anything that we didn’t cover that you wanted to talk about?    I think captive organizations represent the best in business relationships between owner and provider. Being able to do this constituent experience work on behalf of those that you serve just demonstrates a purity in relationship that cannot happen with the influence of third-party shareholders. And all captives have that opportunity to focus forward to give owners more research, more knowledge, more attention, and better service than any other option in the market. In fact, there should really be no better experience available when an effective captive option is present. No other option can to focus and deliver like we do.

All captives have that opportunity to focus forward to give owners more research, more knowledge, more attention, and better service than any other option in the market. In fact, there should really be no better experience available when an effective captive option is present. No other option can to focus and deliver like we do.

A Cut Above the Rest: A Productive – And Creative – VCIA Fall Board Meeting

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Board meetings – A rough count has me at over 100 of these, sometimes as a Board member and sometimes as someone reporting to a Board.  The VCIA’s Board just held its last meeting of 2022, and it is a good time to reflect on similarities and differences.

TopNotch Resort entrance

Similarities – A horseshoe table, a conference phone and water set. And that’s about it! 

The view from TopNotch Resort. Snow is coming!

Differences – Board members calling in from Hawaii at 5:30 in the morning. A view out on to the late fall landscape of Stowe, Vermont.  Great catering. But all of those are just superficial.  Here are the fundamental differences with how the VCIA Board operated at a marathon 7-hour Board meeting:

Staff are present for everything except Executive Session.  With 60+ years of accumulated staff experience their absence would have meant a less informed Board.  And please don’t get the impression that staff sat meekly to one side.  For a start this isn’t that sort of staff, and secondly the Chair actively sought comprehensive input from all staff members.

Every Board member participated, voiced opinions and created spirited discussion.  Clearly, 2022 is shaping up to be very successful for the VCIA operationally and financially.  But rather than seek to duplicate and develop, the Board questioned the fundamentals of VCIA operations and how we serve our members in a dynamic and growing market. 

The 2022-2023 VCIA Board

Absence of pride.  Lots of proposals and ideas were discussed.  The originators of those ideas actively participated as their original thoughts were discussed, refined, discarded (occasionally) or adopted.

Participation.  Every Board meeting since I have joined has had 100% attendance.  This is despite the travel commitment involved or getting up early to join virtually.

The Leadership within the Board meeting.  As the Chair position changes to Tracy Hassett from Andrew Baillie there is a continuing clear and effective leadership style from the Chair.  Opinions are sought, time is taken to explore options, conversations around critical issues are allowed to develop, but any ‘drift’ is gently addressed.  Both the past and current leaders (and I am sure that this applies to past Chairs as well) used their skills to extract productivity and consensus from a diverse group of leaders within the captive industry.

For staff members, it is empowering and enjoyable to be so close to the owners’ representatives through exposure to the Board.  For Board members, I would certainly hope that they believe that their Board membership, and they ways that they conduct themselves as a Board provides personal and professional value to them in addition to the altruistic goal of building a stronger VCIA. We all can’t wait to get to work on the Big Pictures Ideas for our association. It starts now!

The many sides of captives

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Ever heard the Indian parable about the blind men and the elephant?  Each man was asked to describe the elephant based only on the part they could touch. The one who touched the leg said it was like a tree, the one who had the tail said it was like a rope, etc. According to the wise Wikipedia, it’s “about a range of truths and mistakes. It is also about the need for communication and the need for respect for different perspectives.”

In the eight months I have been with the VCIA I have started to become familiar with ‘our part of the elephant’ as it applies to Vermont-based captives, but this week I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge by attending the SIIA (Self Insurance Institute of America) annual conference in Phoenix, AZ.  There, I got to see a whole different part of the elephant!  It was standing room only for a session called ‘Captives to the Rescue.’ The participants in this session (80% of whom were from what we can call the ‘medical field’ – including benefit plans, insurers, hospitals, etc.) heard what captives can do for them and for the changing risk profiles.  While very few of those present were involved in Vermont captives, it was clear that, just like in Vermont, this is a growing industry as all sectors evolve to serve the changing needs of industries, services, and public organizations.

Just like in Vermont, this is a growing industry as all sectors evolve to serve the changing needs of industries, services, and public organizations

Kevin Mead on the Diverse IMpact of Captives

Next month, the Vermont DFR’s Sandy Bigglestone will be a presenter at the European Captive Forum in Luxembourg. (Obligatory plug: she’ll also speak at our October 26th New York City Roadshow, which you can register for here!)  Brittany Nevins of the Vermont DED and myself will also be there as we seek to show the capacity and capability of Vermont to a well-established group of risk professionals.  

From whatever angle one approaches the elephant that is captive insurance, it is an expanding and exciting place to be.  And while, just like the parable, no one person could ever have a full and complete picture of the industry, the range of options, services and expertise out there to assist entities in managing their risk utilizing captives is probably the best it has ever been. Add to the conversation by commenting, or emailing me kmead@vcia.com. I look forward to connecting.

Find a Wealth of Captive Education – And Networking – at VCIA’s Last Captive Roadshow of 2022 in New York City

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A chill is in the air here in Vermont and autumn officially arrived yesterday. Time to get on boots and your long sleeve plaids! And after doing a deep dive on the results of our annual conference, we shift attention to Gotham – New York City – where Janice Valgoi and I host a cadre of experts who will answer your questions and point you in the right direction on how to properly form, manage, and serve a captive. Do you miss the buzz from our conference? Then catch it again in the Big Apple.

When: October 26th from 1-5:45pm.

Where: The beautiful EY US Headquarters. That’s 1 Manhattan West, 395 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001.

Why: An easy one: to see me. Or if you’re not keen on me regaling you about rugby or motorcycles, earn CPE/VT CLE credit, get your questions answered by the industry giants like Sandy Bigglestone, learn a step-by-step blueprint for captive success, and simply be in the room with high-powered captive players.

Where captive dreams are made

What: We break down the afternoon into three parts: 1) An overview of captives and their formations, and how to find a supportive domicile for your captive. Brittany Nevins and The State of Vermont will provide information in this respect. 2) Captive Success Stories. What makes a captive successful and how do you reach your captive goals? Dianne Salter, President of Mountain Laurel Risk Retention Group, will share specific facts and experiences that helped give shape to the high value of her captive. (There are many more erudite captive minds who will be speaking in Parts I and II. See below! 3) Networking Reception: Build relationships and find opportunities in the City That Never Sleeps. And be sure to find me and say hello!

Who: EY is generously providing the space and is a sponsor of the Roadshow, along with The State of Vermont, AM Best, and Marsh Captive Solutions. For the Roadshow speakers, VCIA, as always, presents a stellar lineup of seasoned professionals who have decades of experience to impart to you. I personally want to thank EY’s Mikhail Raybshteyn and Jim Bulkowski for working with us to put on this fruitful event.

How: By registering via this link!

Join us for a high-powered Roadshow in the heart of Manhattan

See you folks a few days before Halloween. I cannot confirm or deny I will be in costume. 🎃