Cayman -- a Well-Regulated Domicile. Cayman regulators take control of captive manager.

Captive.com recently learned from several captive managers who have operations in Cayman that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) had appointed a Controller over a small, local insurance manager.    To learn more about this action, we spoke with Clayton Price, Chairman of the IMAC Executive Committee, who graciously shared clarifying information with us. [Download full article]

The Missouri Captive Insurance Association(MOCIA) Annual Meeting will be held on June 18, 2012. Contact info and links are now available on the Conference Calendar.

Missouri pearls of knowledge: MO has 20 captives domiciled within it, with annual premiums over $1billion.  This includes 2 redomestications within the last 6 months. As of 2/22/12, there are multiple applications in the pipeline. Legislation expanding captive capabilities being introduced into legislation this session. All is thriving and expanding. The MOCIA opened its doors in 2010. Currently, the association has 40 members from 10 states. MOCIA co-hosted the last WRCIC with AZ and UT.

As of February 13th, CICA Conference pre-registration stood at 432! It's by no means too late to register, so do it now! We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Be sure to join SRS for their 2nd 2012 complimentary webinar -- Captive Insurance Success Stories. This event will provide practical examples of real captive use, as the panel looks at three different captive case studies: a successful group captive, a traditional single-parent captive, and a captive writing stop-loss medical.

·  Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
·  Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time

Learn more on the Conference Calendar, or follow this link to register now! We post learning events like this one on the captive.com Learning Center page.

Risk Retention Reporter is an essential publication for anybody with an interest in risk retention groups, so we have made it easy for you to order this publication and more from a variety of publishers, all from our secure server. [Take me to Captive Headlines]

Rich begins, "The right combination of service providers can greatly expedite the process of filing a captive application with domicile regulators. Typically, such providers fall into two groups..."

Recently posted to the Conference Calendar, check out the details of an exciting upcoming conference -- Seize the Day! The 7 Wonders of Captive Insurance -- USA Risk Group Executive Educational Conference. This event will take place on May 23-24 at the lovely Ballantyne Hotel & Resort in Charlotte. Learn more...

Association news: LAUNCH OF EUROPEAN INSURANCE FORUM 2012, MAY 24TH - 25TH, SHELBOURNE HOTEL DUBLIN.

Member Company News: Kane Announces New Head of US Operations. Liz Frederick, Head of ILS, takes up position.

"Kane, the largest global independent insurance manager, and a leading provider of Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) and Life, Pension and Investment (LPI) administration services, has today announced the appointment of Liz Frederick as Managing Director, Kane (USA)..." [Full story]

Looking for 2012 captive prognostications? The February edition of the Captive Insurance Company Reports, published by IRMI, features this topic in the issue's lead article. This article presents opinions and outlooks from 20 well-respected captive practitioners. As usual, that's not all you'll find in the February issue of CICR! See a summary of other articles in this edition, then order CICR direct from IRMI on captive.com's secure server!

Captive Insurance Company Reports highlights are found on the Captive Headlines and the IRMI index pages in the News/Library.

What's driving the spike in US insurance impairments? A.M. Best tackled this important topic, including the increase in captive impairments, in a recent online webinar, which is now available at the A.M. Best website here. The webinar is complimentary but registration is required. This one is too important to miss.

The link to this presentation will be maintained on the Learning Center page.

Our thanks to Caroline McDonald and PropertyCasualty360.com for sharing this article with us: Tennessee Readies Itself for Captive Growth. The article begins, "Tennessee is adding staff to its captive insurance department and actively promoting itself as a domicile, which is paying off with registrations and building interest, according to the state’s captive director..." [More]

A.M. Best Special Report: U.S. P/C Industry’s 2011 Results Slammed by Catastrophe Losses. "The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry’s operating performance deteriorated sharply in 2011, as catastrophe-related losses wreaked havoc on underwriting results throughout the year and led to the industry’s largest underwriting loss since 2002..." [Download full report]

Captive.com maintains links to this report and numerous other titles on the content-rich News/Library Article Index page. Our thanks to A.M. Best for sharing this report with our website visitors.

The 8th Annual Canadian Captives & Corporate Insurance Strategies Summit will take place on May 16-17 in Toronto. More info and links now available on the Conference Calendar.

Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to Gateway Rivers Insurance Company. "A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of A-(Excellent) and an issuer credit rating of “a-” to Gateway Rivers Insurance Company (Gateway) (Burlington, VT). The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable..." [More]

Domicile News from CIMA in Cayman: After Strong Year of Cayman Captive Formations, Good Potential for Growth in 2012. "Following the licensing of 38 new captive insurance companies during 2011 and a good start in 2012, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) anticipates net growth in the sector this year..." [Download full article]

Also see CNS Business article -- Cayman Island Captives Grow Over 50%. "Following the licensing of 38 new captive insurance companies last year, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) anticipates that this area of the financial services sector will prove lucrative for the jurisdiction during 2012, despite industry challenges. The government’s regulator said that 2012 has begun with promise, too, as CIMA’s Insurance Division processed five new captive licence applications last month..." [Full story]

CICA Honors 2012 Recipients of Prestigious Industry Awards at upcoming CICA Conference. Dan Labrie, president and CEO of the Housing Authority Insurance Group (HAIG), to receive CICA 2012 Distinguished Service Award.

Congratulations, Dan!

Recent conference postings on the captive.com Conference Calendar:

• March 7-9 - 26th Annual Legislative/Regulatory Conference
• March 20 & 21 - TCIA Roadshow – Memphis
• April 16-18 - TPA & MGU/Excess Insurer Executive Forum
• May 15-17 - SIIA's 14th Annual Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Executive Forum

Returning to CT today after a terrific World Captive Forum. Great conference!

Live reporting from WCF: Roundtable discussions were a new feature of this year's WCF. There were 8 roundtables, each of which discussed a topic relevant specific issue for approximately 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes, one could choose to stay at the roundtable that would move to another related topic, or move to a whole new issue. So, for example, the Emerging Risks roundtable,chaired by Art Korizitsky from Marsh, began with social media risks, but at the end of 20 minutes moved on to other emerging risk issues such as virtual supply chain (cloud computing), risks emanating from companies shifting from analog to digital, environmental risk, and more.

As go social media like FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, should your company care about potential risks associated with such media? Yes, indeed! Disgruntled employees, customer complaints, disclosure of proprietary information, and advertising liability surrounding a product can all result in reputational risk or worse. A company-wide policy for social media and close monitoring of such media are high among the essential components of managing such risks.

The 21st World Captive Forum in sunny, warm Miami is underway! Numbers are up significantly from last year's WCF, with some 250 enthusiastic delegates attending the event.

Congratulations to Michael Lusk of Archer Daniels Midland Company on receiving the 2012 World Captive Forum's Award of Excellence!

Joe Plumieri delivered an informative keynote address on the resilience that will define successful companies who are able to anticipate and respond to both insurable and non-insurable catastrophic risks in the coming decade. Joe's well-received style is engaging and entertaining. One quotable quote, "Just what location in the world is NOT CAT exposed?" Amen, Joe!

Most Ask the Expert Forum questions that come in to captive.com are very specific, but once in a while, we get one in that applies so broadly that we want to share it with our readers.

Today, a captive consultant/manager offered up this question: "I have a client, a large native American tribe with large government and gaming operations. Would forming or joining a captive program have as much merit for them, considering there are no tax advantages to them since they are a tax-exempt entity?"

Because this question applies more broadly to other tax-exempt entities, we asked one of our favorite tax experts, Rick Buggy from Saslow, Lufkin & Buggy for his thoughts. Visit the Ask the Expert FAQ page for Rick's answer to his question.

Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Queen City Assurance, Inc.

"A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of Queen City Assurance Inc. (Queen City) (Burlington, VT). The outlook for both ratings is stable..." [Full story]

Domicile End-of-Year Recap: Hawai'i Domicile Industry Reaches Record High Number of Captives.

"Hawai'i's Captive Insurance Domicile reached a record high in 2011. The domicile reached 172 captives. Hawai'i gained 10 new captives in a broad range of lines. The domicile saw five captives close, giving the domicile a net gain of five last year..." [Full story]

Microinsurance Network: 10 Years On.

"When 16 experts first sat down in early 2002 to form the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance, none of them could have imagined what would be achieved 10 years on. The participants of this meeting realised the need for an exchange and learning platform to ensure microinsurance fulfils its potential. The platform, renamed the Microinsurance Network, now has over 60 institutional members representing around 200 experts in fifteen different working and discussion groups..." [Full story]

News from IRMI: New Second Edition of Captive Practices and Procedures Book Provides More Insight into Captive Insurance Best Practices.

Member News: Global broker survey finds insurance buyers concerned about cost and availability of suitable coverage as natural hazard and supply chain risks loom.

"As risk managers and financial executives in various parts of the world renew their commercial property insurance programs, many have significant concerns about the availability and pricing of coverage as well as managing risk with fewer resources and reduced budgets.  These issues are especially challenging for firms with large natural hazard and supply chain exposures..." [Download full story]

Captive.com Member News: "Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Ltd. (RQIH) is pleased to announce the formation of R&Q Quest Management Services USA, LLC (R&Q Quest USA) as a Captive Consulting and Management Firm to complement the Group’s captive management operations in Bermuda, Gibraltar and Norway.  RQIH’s captive management operations rank in the top ten captive managers worldwide.

"Richard P. Marshall has been named President and Justin Mead, Senior Vice President, both of who come with many years of experience in the captive industry, most recently with Camelback Captive Services, Inc. which has moved its operations into R&Q Quest USA.  They and their associates will continue to operate from their current locations in Phoenix and Chicago." [Download full details]

Congratulations and best wishes to to our friends at the former Camelback Captive Services, Inc. and R&Q Quest!

Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to Instituto Nacional de Seguros

"A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) (Costa Rica). The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable..." [Download full story]

We love to keep our readers on top of recent captive conference. Today, captive.com's own John Salisbury gives us the inside scoop on the Inaugural Tennessee Captive Insurance Association (TCIA) Conference. Download Inaugural TCIA Conference Plays to Rave Reviews -- A Symphony of History, Regulatory Progress, and Music in printable format now! We will maintain a link to this article on the News/Library Article Index.

Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of PMG Assurance Ltd.

End of Year Captive Results from Utah: Utah - a Destination for Captive Insurers.

"The year 2011 has been a record breaker for the Utah Insurance Department’s Captive Division. The year concluded with the licensure of 69 new captive insurance companies. This number bested that of 2007 when the Division licensed 63 new captives..." [Download full story]

Captive Ratings News: A.M. Best Affirms Ratings to Pathfinder Insurance Company.

"A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (Good) and issuer credit rating of “bbb” of Pathfinder Insurance Company (Pathfinder) (Denver, CO). The outlook for both ratings is stable..." [Download full story]

Captive Domicile News: New Jersey Finishes 2011 with Three Captive Insurance Companies Including a Re-domestication.

"New Jersey finished 2011 with its third captive insurance company and first re-domestication. The state’s captive insurance law went into effect midyear. After one of the United States’ largest insurance companies formed the first captive in the state in July, captive regulators approved a re-domestication of a captive insurance company owned by the largest terminal operator and stevedore in the United States..." [Download full story]

A.M. Best News: A.M. Best Sets Webinar Examining the Increasing Number of Impaired U.S. Insurance Organizations.

[Also see February 2 posting and links for this event on the Conference Calendar]

"A.M. Best Co. research shows that 2011 saw a surprising surge in recorded impaired U.S. insurance organizations, including risk retention groups, captive insurers, property/casualty writers and other risk carriers..." [Full story]

The newly-updated and very popular CICR Index 1988 through December 2011 in searchable PDF is now available from all IRMI pages in the News/Library.

International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) is adding a research analyst position to their editorial team. Learn about this career opportunity and many more on the Positions Available page.

Domicile News: Guernsey sees 50%+ rise in insurance licenses issued.

"...Fiona Le Poidevin, Deputy Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry, said: 'The latest figures show that there have been far more licenses issued during 2011 than the immediately preceding years and this is across the range of entities from conventional captive insurance companies, PCCs [Protected Cell Companies], ICCs [Incorporated Cell Companies] and in particular, PCC and ICC cells'..." [Download full story, including full captive license stats]

Artex has just launched their brand new website! The new site is easy to navigate and features all of Artex's updated corporate information, brochures, newsletters, articles and webinars and white papers. Visit now! 

We also want to announce Artex's next webinar entitled Introduction to Captives, scheduled for Thursday February 23, 2:00 (EDT), This event, featuring Kevin Heffernan, Senior Vice President and leader of Artex's Captive Strategy, will provide an overview of captive concepts, basic structures and the typical uses of captives. Register here.

A.M. Best Captive Ratings News:

• 1/16: A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to Vine Court Assurance Incorporated. "A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” to Vine Court Assurance Incorporated (Vine Court) (Burlington, VT). The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable..."
• 1/13: A.M. Best Downgrades Ratings of BancInsure Inc. "A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to B (Fair) from B++ (Good) and the issuer credit rating to “bb” from “bbb” of BancInsure Inc. (BancInsure) (Oklahoma City, OK). The outlook for both ratings is negative..."

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