A.M.BestTV: Captive Regulators Worry About Other Regulators

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In this episode of A.M.BestTV, which wraps up the second day of the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference, regulators say mounting layers of regulation are making it more difficult for them to oversee their own captive domiciles. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=vcia2815 to view the video program. Full conference coverage can be seen at http://www.ambest.tv/vcia.

“Going in a completely different direction there are financial issues facing captives, i.e., investments”

With the captive market being a growing industry, captive insurers are encountering many unanticipated challenges.

“Over-regulation is especially becoming a challenge,” said David Provost, deputy commissioner, Vermont Captive Division. “The Federal Insurance Office and The International Association of Insurance Supervisors would like to get involved, whereas The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is always involved. There are different levels of captives that require different levels of regulation, but most are just little captives that don’t require that much group wide supervision. So the challenge is keeping things in check, appropriate and proportional to what the captives need.”

“Going in a completely different direction there are financial issues facing captives, i.e., investments,” said Maria Sheffield, captive program manager at the Missouri Department of Insurance. “There was a time where, just like traditional insurance companies, there was money made off of the investments in captives. However, since there is not as large a return on investments right now, the challenge is making sure companies stay solvent.”

Despite these challenges, John Talley, chief of the New Jersey Office of Captive Insurance, sees the outlook for the industry as great and growing. “It is a wide open market.”

Full-length interviews from day one of the event also are available for viewing:

• David Provost, deputy commissioner, Vermont Captive Division; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=provost815.
• Rich Smith, president of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=smith815.
• Jay Branum, director of captives at South Carolina Department of Insurance; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=branum815.
• Fred Eslami, senior financial analyst, A.M. Best Company; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=eslami815.
• Nancy Gray of Aon Global Insurance Managers; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=gray815.
• John Lochner of Towers Watson; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=lochner815.
• Les Boughner, executive vice president, Willis; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=boughner815.
• Anne Marie Towle of Willis North America; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=towle815.
• John Talley, chief of the New Jersey Office of Captive Insurance; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=talley815.
• Steve Bauman, Zurich Global Corporate in North America; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=bauman815.
• Debra Walker, director of captive insurance, North Carolina; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=walker815.
• Julie Boucher, captive solutions practice leader, Americas at Marsh; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=boucher815.
• Mike Elliott, senior director of knowledge resources at The Institutes; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=elliott815.
• Maria Sheffield, captive program manager at the Missouri Department of Insurance; http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=sheffield815 and
• Steve Kinion, director of captive and financial products, Delaware http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=kinion815.

A.M. Best also recently held a webinar on the state of the captive insurance market. To view the presentation, visit http://www.ambest.com/webinars/captive15.

Recent episodes of A.M.BestTV include:

• Captive Insurance Panel: Domicile Growth, Regulation Add Complexity: The first day of the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association Conference, a captive insurance panel discusses the current state of captive insurance companies, including developments in regulation and tax considerations: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=vcia1815.
• Captives Results Outperform Overall Industry But Reveal Surprises: A new special report and webinar from A.M. Best that reviews financial results, risk issues and business developments ahead of the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference in Vermont: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cappanel15.
• Insurance Market Optimism Swells in Nigeria: Associate Director, Analytics Deniese Imoukhuede explains how fluctuating oil prices are hampering Nigeria’s insurance market amid significant growth potential given shifting demographics: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=fmnigeria815.
• Investment Allocations Changing ‘On the Margin’: Vice Presidents Jim Gillard and Ken Johnson discuss how insurers have increased their overall risk and reduced liquidity in their investment portfolios to earn extra or preserve yields: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=fminvestments815.

A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best Company is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2015 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

A.M. Best
Lee McDonald, 908-439-2200, ext. 5561
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com