A Brief Note on the Value of VCIA Board Members

Posted on April 7, 2023 by vciablog

The Board of the VCIA has some parameters set by the bylaws of the association. One of these is that the Board must always have members who are captive insurance company owners. This ensures that the Board has a direct understanding of what many VCIA member captive owners are going through.

Congratulations to 3 of our Board Members for being a Top 20 Captive Owner by Captive Review!

On that note, I am very pleased to report that in the new Top 20 captive owners list from Captive Review – https://captivereview.com/features/top-20-captive-owners-2023/ – 3 VCIA Board members appear! It’s not lost on me that these 3 fantastic individuals are not only very active in the captive community, but also help out and volunteer their time and knowledge with many VCIA initiatives.

Firstly, our immediate past Chair, Andrew Baillie of the AES Corporation. Andrew’s appearance at the VCIA roadshow in New York in the fall of 2022 showcased one of the many reasons that he was on this list. From the Captive Review article: “Baillie has developed a number of innovative captive solutions, particularly in the fields of cyber and terrorism coverage, and earned himself a reputation as a leader in the captive space among his peers.”

Secondly, Gail Newman of Bright Horizons, who brings the insurance challenges of a global childcare provider to VCIA Board deliberations. Gail brings so much fresh insight to the Board and VCIA and utilizes her many areas of expertise.

Last, but by no means least, current Board Chair Tracy Hassett of edHEALTH, who testified in front of the Vermont House and Senate committees in January of 2023, and made a powerful impact on the legislators present.

The VCIA relies on Board members, committee members and many other volunteers to develop our programs and initiatives, and it is great when the broader industry recognizes the influence, commitment and excellence of these folks alongside us!

Previewing VCIA’s Historic Trade Mission to Mexico Happening Next Week

Posted on February 24, 2023 by vciablog

With a sixteen-inch storm due at my Vermont house, this seemed like a good time to escape to 80+ degrees in Mexico City! Aside from the weather, the real reason is the VCIA’s curation of and participation in the first ever trade mission from the Vermont captive sector to Latin America; in particular, our southern neighbor Mexico, the second largest Latin American economy and one with robust industrial and manufacturing sectors. Our goal is simple: to establish lasting relationships between Mexican companies and the Vermont captive community.

My colleague, Janice Valgoi, has spent many hours moving this from a standard VCIA roadshow into a fully-fledged multi-day event that will include meetings with industry and financial sector leadership groups as we present the case for captive insurance in general and Vermont as a domicile specifically. My hope is that I will be able to provide real-time updates via my LinkedIn Page, and if we gather enough material, to produce a Special Mexico Trade Mission Report to VCIA Members, just like we did with Legislative Day.

Three years in the making (thanks COVID), these plans were revitalized as travel restrictions were lifted. We are now all delighted to be working on developing this market – one that Vermont already has exposure in – and building a global brand for our Brave Little State. Joining myself and Janice on this trip are Brittany Nevins from the VT Department of Economic Development (DED), and the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR)’s captive team of Sandy Bigglestone, Christine Brown and Jim DeVoe-Talluto. You can find the State’s informative press release about our trade mission here. In addition, Susan Murray of the US Commercial Service, and Tim Tierney, the DED’s Director of Business Recruitment and International Trade, have been a great help, and will also be joining us in Mexico City.

For our March 1^st educational session, the Vermont contingent will be joined on stage by captive owners and managers from Mexico, as we all demonstrate how coverage and pricing challenges can be addressed through captives. We have an extraordinary talented lineup that will offer diverse perspectives on the innovative uses of captives for corporations. As I’m still a captive student, I will be sure to bring my paper and pencil!

Everyone has been so patient with this project, which was planned long before my arrival – and especially tolerant have been our sponsors, AIG & Marsh, as well as the State of Vermont, all who have graciously allowed us to rely on their support despite the delay. My sincere thanks goes out to our sponsors and everyone that has made this landmark trip for our association possible – especially you, Janice Valgoi! I look forward to sharing more once I’m on the ground in “The City of Palaces.”

VCIA and Vermont Captives Have Many Reasons to Be Cheerful!

Posted on February 10, 2023 by vciablog

Last week I spoke about the generalized optimism present at the World Captive Forum from the domiciles that were both presenting and exhibiting. For this week, I am going to expand on why the Green Mountain state has ‘Reasons to be Cheerful.’

Firstly, the numbers. Another top 10 year in 2022 for Vermont with 41 new captive formations and a current total of 639 licenses. Additionally, the state hosts 59 sponsored cells with an individual count of over 500. Of which over 40 were new this year. Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott said of the achievement: “Vermont has so much to offer, and the captive insurance industry remains a point of pride in our state.” It is also worth pointing out the range of activities that Vermont-based captives support: Healthcare, construction and real estate all featuring heavily. And Vermont stretches its wings a little too, with new captives being formed by entities based in Canada, Mexico, and Austria.

Secondly, stability. While there has certainly been a ‘changing of the guard’ the knowledge and strength within the DFR remains unparalleled. Be sure to watch out for details of our March webinar when some of the new leaders with the DFR (who, bluntly, are not that new at all!) will be sharing answers to the questions you need answered.

Thirdly, the VCIA. We are expanding and planning for the future – a future where we play an expanded role to match the growth that we are seeing in Vermont and beyond, and the increased demand around the industry for the quality education, networking and information unavailable elsewhere.

So, in fact, there are many reasons to be cheerful about the state of the captive industry and especially the state of the industry in Vermont. By my count it’s up to ‘Reasons to be Cheerful – Part 3.’ Added bonus points for anyone that can tell me the name of the under-appreciated band that produced a song with that title in 1979! Check it out below, and always feel free to reach out to me.

VCIA’s Captivated Blog Heads to the Capitol: A Recap of 2023’s Successful Legislative Day

Posted on January 20, 2023 by vciablog

I am not expecting a Netflix development contract to come my way after my TV appearance (well, YouTube – the recordings can be found here and here) testifying before Vermont’s Senate Finance and House Commerce committees, but you never know. In fact, I was just the ‘warm-up guy’ for the real stars, VCIA Board Chair Tracy Hassett, and the VCIA’s Legislative Committee Chair, Ben Gould. Tracy had a compelling story about saving millions of dollars for edHEALTH (a member-owned higher education group) through their medical stop-loss captive, while Ben detailed how the legislation that these two committees work on keeps Vermont as the Gold Standard of the industry. Both committees were very receptive to us, and look forward to updating and finalizing a captive bill for 2023. As soon as there is any progress, we will let VCIA members know!

VCIA President Kevin Mead in conversation with House Speaker Jill Krowinski during Legislative Leadership meetings

Following committee testimony, VCIA’s legislative advocate Jamie Feehan organized a slate of a Legislative Leadership meetings, where nearly 30 VCIA stakeholders heard from House and Senate Minority Leaders, House Speaker, Lieutenant Governor and the State’s Treasurer on what their priorities are for the legislative session, how the parties work together, and why they will continue to be champions of the captive industry and optimize the legislation that supports it.

But I need to back up! Before all of this, the VCIA’s Board held a public session where we heard from the DFR’s Sandy Bigglestone and the DED’s Brittany Nevins on the state of the captive industry in Vermont. 41 new formations (another ‘top 10 year’)! This was followed up by an informal lunch, where House and Senate legislators were able to mix with VCIA members and staff and learn about what we do. Attendees also heard comments from DFR Commissioner Kevin Gaffney and DED Commissioner Joan Goldstein, both of whom pledged support for and praised the Vermont captive industry and VCIA. The common question of the day from lawmakers: where can I find the next captive industry for Vermont? We didn’t have an answer, but we responded quite passionately that we will continue to protect and strengthen the actual captive industry in Vermont!

A productive Legislative Day lunch, as a number of new legislators learned about Vermont captives

Headcount restrictions in place at various locations precluded us from having a mass turnout as in past years, but rest assured that this was an effective and informative Legislative Day that we can build on after two years of virtual attendance.

Given that our advocacy work at a federal and state level is always rated as one of our strongest benefits, there’s no better time to become a VCIA Member.

We are starting a series of exclusive member reports with a Legislative Day Document that will share video and specific commentary made by Vermont Legislators, and we plan to deliver it to our members in the next week! If you’re not a member yet, connect with Membership Director Janice Valgoi and make that new year resolution come true by joining us – for we are strength in numbers!

VCIA Fact Sheet distributed to Vermont lawmakers. An exclusive, detailed report of the day will be sent to VCIA members in the near future!

Success Only Fuels Our Motivation

Posted on November 18, 2022 by vciablog

These last few weeks I’ve spent more time in hotel rooms and airplanes than I’ve spent at home. Now, happily snug in my snowy–yes, already–Vermont headquarters, I can reflect on quite a trip the State of Vermont and VCIA had to Luxembourg for the European Captive Forum.

The trip, and the conference, had a perfect combination of networking and educational sessions. Deputy Commissioner Sandy Bigglestone led an engaging topic on “Why and How to Establish a Captive” and the Vermont team heard from stateside and international industry colleagues about opportunities for new captive formations in the Green Mountain State. I was personally happy to hear a recurrent point about how many people are eager for the business possibilities, networking values, and educational content of our annual conference…even if it’s more than 8 months away! Even so, we are already hard at work on creating an optimal experience for our attendees.

The “hard at work” phrase kept in my mind as we learned that Vermont won the International Domicile of the Year during the Captive Review European Awards. The announcement on LinkedIn read: “Moving on to the next category at #EUCaptiveAwards 2022 where we have the International Domicile…And it is of course Vermont who have earned our congratulations!”

I’m still less than a year in as VCIA President/industry representative, so it struck me that the “of course” preposition to describe our award reflects the healthy and productive infrastructure that VCIA and the State has built–and continues to strengthen. That’s why I responded to Captive Review’s post like this: ” ‘Of course Vermont’ is a delightful comment, but rest assured that the industry-leading regulators, service providers and managers, economic development professionals and the VCIA are NOT resting on their laurels as we all further develop the ‘Gold Standard’ that garners awards like these.”

We’re further developing our Gold Standard here at VCIA by starting a Strategic Planning process that will result in a comprehensive and innovative blueprint that will guide us into prosperous future in partnership with our members, stakeholders, and the industry as a whole. Our newly appointed Board Chair Tracy Hassett said it in a nutshell: VCIA will be thinking “blue sky big” in how we can provide more to our members, meet captive owner/industry needs, and increase our impact and reach. So I encourage you to join us. Become a member, join a committee, share your feedback. This is YOUR organization, and the success we experienced at ECF only motivates us to higher ground.

Bookmark this Benchmarking Webinar Happening Next Week!

Posted on November 10, 2022 by vciablog

I can’t tell you how many folks have shared their excitement with me about VCIA’s upcoming Captive Benchmarking Webinar taking place next Wednesday November 16th at 2-3pm EST. It’s been a few years since our last benchmarking program, so it’s high time to update everyone on the health of captive financials in the State of Vermont. This year’s event is gearing up to be one of our most-attended webinars, and you can still get the important data by registering here!

I am lucky enough to moderate a conversation with the above captive financial data wizards, and I wanted to hear from them beforehand why they are excited for next week’s webinar.

With negative year-to-date investment returns reducing both profitability and surplus for captives, it is an opportune time to discuss best practices in benchmark selection for insurance entities that not only considers investment risk tolerances, but also the connection to the risks being underwritten by the captive
Bill piel, President of Institutional Markets, Opus Investment Management

During the webinar, Amy Angell of Milliman, Inc., plans to review surplus levels, identify ways to monitor claims performance, and to evaluate whether risk management programs are having the desired outcomes on the loss experience. She’ll do this all by looking at the hard data of the financial records of the 2021 EOY domiciled captives of the State of Vermont, listed by type of captive and by industry type.

What’s revving her up for next week? She told me point blank: “Benchmarking is a powerful tool that provides meaningful and actionable insights to captive owners.” If you want to start game planning for captive’s financial goals, then there’s no better place to start than our Hot Topics webinar.

Next to Amy will be her accomplished colleagues, Becky Aitchison, Captive Insurance Examiner for the State of Vermont DFR, and Bill Piel, President of the Opus Institutional Markets.

Becky is basically the source keeper the data aggregated and shared annually by the DFR. She will explain the key ratios used by the DFR for the surveillance of your captive’s financial health, and what markers she looks for in determining how a certain captive may or may not be thriving.

From an investment perspective, Bill will let you in on the primary reasons for establishing an investment policy and how the DFR data can help assist with developing an appropriate asset allocation unique to your captive. He will also identify ways to monitor investment performance and evaluate whether results are having the desired impact on your financial statements.

What makes Bill excited for the webinar? “With negative year-to-date investment returns reducing both profitability and surplus for captives, it is an opportune time to discuss best practices in benchmark selection for insurance entities that not only considers investment risk tolerances, but also the connection to the risks being underwritten by the captive.”

So, we have the expert who comes up with the data, and the other experts who will explain how to use the latest data to your benefit. It’s a win win!

I look forward to facilitating a data-driven conversation that looks into how your captive – and the Vermont captive landscape at large – has faired in the last financial year, and what that may say about the future. Remember to register, and “see you” there!

New York City Impressed by VCIA Roadshow

Posted on October 28, 2022 by vciablog

My second VCIA roadshow and it was remarkable in so many ways. On LinkedIn, attendee Isaac Muller said, “It was a fantastic experience as we met industry experts from the insurance and captive worlds. We listened to them, we learned from them and got to talk to many of them.”

Thanks for hosting, EY!

Immersive sessions had Andrew Baillie sharing his experiences at AES, delivered with his trademark gentle Scottish humor. Presenting with Andrew was Dianne Salter, and she added insight into captive usage in regional medical centers with multiple campuses and thousands of professionals. The regulatory environment was well-covered, and there was a fascinating peek into the future of captives with another panel led by Mikhail Raybshteyn.

Added to this was the view from EY’s new building – peering down 48 floors to the new Moynihan Train Hall and across to the Empire State Building. Not bad, for New York!

That’s it for 2022 roadshows, but our first for 2023 will be in Mexico City. We’re going global! And please, feel free to invite us to your city and learn what captives can do for you, your clients and risk management professionals.

A huge thanks to our sponsors – the State of Vermont, Marsh, AM Best and EY!

I love New York, even though it isn’t mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.
Truman Capote

#VCIA2022 in Pictures: Part II

Posted on October 7, 2022 by vciablog

It’s been 57 days since the last day of #VCIA2022. Summer has come to a close here in Vermont, and we are in full-on foliage mode. That doesn’t keep me from counting how many days until our next annual conference! 304 to be exact. In the meantime, we have a treasure trove of high-quality photos and I want to share some with you. Looking for more, or want to see if you’re in any? Contact Francis at fmcgill@vcia.com and he’ll be happy to help you out. Now without further ado, I give you VCIA’s 37th Annual Conference, in pictures – Part II!

In Session: Focusing on Captive Education at #VCIA2022

Rekindling Friendships and Making New Connections: Business Networking at #VCIA2022

Hotel Vermont Reception!

And a HUGE thank you from us staff (and Monty the VCIA Bear!) for your attendance made #VCIA2022 one for the record books! See you in 2023!

Your Perspectives of #VCIA2022

Posted on September 9, 2022 by vciablog

I finally came around to writing that personal $100 donation check to ICCIE. It’s in honor of A.I. Insurance’s Cameron MacArthur, who guessed the closest number to the #VCIA2022 attendee count, 986! I also want to acknowledge our friend George Levine of KPMG. He correctly answered all staff trivia at the conference and won the $50 Vermont Flannel Company gift card. We went through several wrong submissions before coming up with George’s! I hope George found something to clad himself in for the New England autumn. For the rest of the blog, I want to give it over to you, the fine folks that made #VCIA2022 a complete success. VCIA staff closely read over your post conference feedback, and we’ve already identified areas that we can improve on for next year. We also appreciate the support and gratitude, as we went all in to make it possible. So without further ado, here are some comments that really made us smile. (As a side note, if you haven’t filled out the conference survey and would still like to, get in touch with Francis at fmcgill@vcia.com)

Job well done, VCIA! That was an incredible conference and I think anyone that attended would agree, you are clearly the best.

Thank you for all your, and your team’s efforts in putting this together. Excited to be here (1st-timer)!

The best organized conference I’ve attended. Keep it up!

A phenomenal opportunity for a young professional in the captive industry to become more integrated in the community at large!

I love VCIA! It truly is where the captive world comes to meet. Anyone doing captives is here so it’s a must-go.

The best US conference to attend.

Professional sessions with strong attendance of key players in the captive space.

Everyone’s willing to make new contacts and build out their networks at VCIA!

Excellent information from thought leaders in the captive industry.

Vermont Conference is the best.

Best in class!

The people and the good times make this a great conference.

The staff at VCIA is very supportive and helps make it one of the best conferences of the year.

At VCIA all attendees genuinely want others to have a positive experience.

If you do anything related to captive insurance, you have to come to VCIA. Simple as that!

#VCIA2022 in Pictures: Part I

Posted on September 2, 2022 by vciablog

Well, the dust has settled: #VCIA2022 is in the rearview, and we, as I hope you are as well, are thrilled with the results! This blog can’t begin to capture the captive industry’s energy, the networking, the learning that all happened in a few short days in Burlington, Vermont. What it can do, however, is share with you a first-glimpse batch of our official #VCIA2022 photos. Have any more photos you’d like to share? Send them to me at kmead@vcia.com. More official conference photo batches will be shared throughout the autumn. Now without further ado, I give you VCIA’s 37th Annual Conference, in pictures!

In Session: Focusing on Captive Education at #VCIA2022