VCIA Members had blast last night at ECHO Science Museum and Aquarium, right on the Lake Champlain Waterfront with views of the Adirondack Mountains! Great festive atmosphere with personal and captive catch ups interspersed. Thanks for everyone who came out!
An accountant, an auditor, and a tax lawyer walk into a bar…just kidding, no joke here. But have you ever had fun at a tax seminar? Well I think you just might at our Captive Taxation webinar next week. For real!
For those of you that think that high jinx might be a little lacking as you wade through IRS and state taxes for captives, then we may have the right antidote to put you in the mood for holiday cheer.
I have been present as Chaz Lavelle and Dan Kusaila have been developing and practicing for next week’s VCIA tax webinar and it has been a total hoot to watch as these two long time thought leaders and contributors to the VCIA combine a review of the arcane backwaters of tax with anarchic humor.
Perhaps most importantly, they know how to get the information across that you need without drifting and being obscure. If the execution is anything like the prep, it will be a great hour! Enjoy their company, hear some interesting captive tax anecdotes, and learn about what’s ahead for our industry, tax-wise, in 2023. If you haven’t done so, you can still register for the tax webinar here. You won’t be disappointed by Chaz and Dan!
Of course, we have a more typical way to get into the holiday spirit with our annual holiday party the day before the tax webinar. Over 80 of your colleagues have already registered for this event, and I look forward to meeting friends old and new as we wind down what has been an exceptional 2022 for the VCIA with a great event at ECHO in Burlington. VCIA members can register for their free holiday mixer here.
I hope to see you at these events next week!
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!
Captivated 