Captive Resource Center

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Research & Information

Learning Center "Course" Catalog

Featured Learning Events:

	CaptiveLearning.com is open and ready for your participation, 24/7! Learn about the website's purpose and history in a PowerPoint/Video presentation developed by John Salisbury and Chris Mancini! 12/18/08: Why must a captive pledge collateral to a fronting carrier? What types of collateral are acceptable? What are the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of each? Marty Ellis from Comerica Bank answers these questions and more in a brand new course presentation just activated at CaptiveLearning.com -- Captive Collateral Options. The PowerPoint/Audio course is complimentary, but registration is required. Once the presentation launches, sit back and enjoy -- you won't even need to touch your computer keyboard! This presentation does not include testing or a forum in its aftermath, but should you wish to contact Marty after listening, his contact information is available from the Comerica Bank captive website as well as the Captive Yellow Pages. Follow this link to go directly to the course, generously developed and sponsored by Comerica Bank. Other courses, both complimentary and pay-per-view, are now available at the site: We have partnered with WebCE, a nationwide provider of Continuing Education for insurance professionals, to deliver all of the commercial insurance web-based courses you need to fulfill continuing ed requirements to maintain a variety of commercial insurance-related licenses. Costs are stunningly reasonable. The Feasibility Study is the first of a ten course Captive Practices and Procedures series presented by Kathryn A. Westover. The course is presented in a video/PowerPoint format, and is available for $69. Ten Best Practices for a Successful Captive, developed and sponsored by Callum Beaton, is a detailed PowerPoint Audio course being offered for $99. In this course, Callum shares the best practices he has gleaned from more than twenty years of experience in establishing, managing and directing captive insurances companies, working on the London market, lecturing and traveling internationally to captive domiciles. An excellent course, well worth the cost. Visit CaptiveLearning.com and register as a guest to view John Salisbury's new PowerPoint/Audio course entitled Captive Governance Best Practices, which will be available on a complimentary basis for a short time. The follow-on course to Captive Governance Best Practices in the Captive Governance Course Series is entitled Preparing an Annual Captive Governance Work Plan. Here is an opportunity to learn in more detail about this essential Captive Governance Best Practice. This course is available for a very-reasonable $29. E-mail us with your suggestions and feedback. We look forward to hearing from industry professionals who are interested in sponsoring or developing courses that Take Aim At Captive Excellence!
	Mark your calendars and register now for Munich Re America's First-Half 2009 Natural Catastrophe Update Webinar, now scheduled for July 27, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon ET. For details on topics that will be covered, and to register online, simply follow this link.
	SRS Webinars: SRS is an industry leader in providing education to clients, brokers, consultants, regulators and other industry professionals. SRS's goal is to hold a webinar a month. These one hour sessions cover topics of interest which include domicile reviews, investment strategies, actuarial processes, tax updates and current topics of interest to our clients and associates. Sessions are offered as a service to our industry at no charge to participants. Registration is required. Recordings of our webinars can be viewed at www.strategicrisks.com/webinars.php Follow this link to go directly to the June 2009 webinar entitled, "Surviving in a Tough Market – A Group Captive Case Study." Over the last few years, group captives have faced strong competition from the commercial market. Many have lost members and some have not survived. With the downturn in the economy, captives are also now facing pressure for the return of capital and surplus. In this webinar we look at CS Insurance, a contractor group captive which has faced both these pressures but is surviving.

Podcasts:

Weblogs:

Visit Cedar Consulting's Weblog, launched in March 2008. Ibi est Vox in Sermo -- In conversation there is power! Very informative indeed!

Ask the Expert Q&A:

A compilation of some of the most compelling "general interest" questions that have recently come before our Ask the Expert resources. Answers are supplied in pop-up windows. Take me there now...

 

Webinars and PowerPoint Presentations:

Date	Presentation Title and Description
7/3/09	Mark your calendars and register now for Munich Re America's First-Half 2009 Natural Catastrophe Update Webinar, now scheduled for July 27, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon ET. For details on topics that will be covered, and to register online, simply follow this link.
6/18/09	Follow this link to go directly to Strategic Risk Solutions (SRS) June 2009 webinar entitled, "Surviving in a Tough Market – A Group Captive Case Study." Over the last few years, group captives have faced strong competition from the commercial market. Many have lost members and some have not survived. With the downturn in the economy, captives are also now facing pressure for the return of capital and surplus. In this webinar we look at CS Insurance, a contractor group captive which has faced both these pressures but is surviving.
9/4/08	Artex Risk Solutions has just posted its August webinar entitled, "Single Parent Captives - Should I Form a Captive?" presented by Kevin Heffernan, CPA, Division Vice President, Artex Risk Solutions (Vermont).
10/15/07	From the 2007 Delaware Captive Insurance Association Conference, download this fine presentation entitled Your CAPTIVE & the MARKET: Impact & Choices. Our thanks go to Bill Whitehead from Lexington Insurance Company for sharing these informative slides.
10/15/07	Our second offering for October is a well-received presentation from the August VCIA Conference entitled New Varieties of Reinsurance. This seminar featured three presenters -- Steve McIlhiney from EWI Risk Services, Paul Buckley from Tyco International, and David Lee from Brown Brothers Harriman.
8/13/07	From the 2007 VCIA conference, download Bruce Wright's well-received presentation entitled Pulling Up Roots: Reasons and Methodsfor Redomestication. This presentation takes you from A to Z on issues surrounding captive redomestication.
2/2/07	The time is right to resume a discussion on the potential benefits of Captive Accreditation. Captive.com's own John Salisbury participated in an excellent, albeit controversial, presentation on this topic at World Captive Forum. The issue is likely to be discussed widely at the upcoming CICA Conference, so we wanted you to have the benefit of John's annotated presentation slides prior to that event. We will add an article next week detailing WCF presentation, along with the conversation it generated. Download John's well-annotated Captive Accreditation presentation now, and feel free to e-mail us with your thoughts on this topic. In order to view John's annotations, save the PowerPoint file to your hard drive, then open it from your local computer.
1/4/07	"REDOMESTICATION OF CAPTIVES INTO NEVADA" presented for the Nevada Captive Insurance Association in Las Vegas on February 24, 2006 by Bruce Wright at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
8/29/05	Download four PowerPoint presentations from Bruce Wright at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae: “DISTRIBUTION OF CAPTIVE PROFITS” from the Atlas Legal, Tax and Financial Aspects of Captive Insurance Companies Conference in San Francisco, July 11-12, 2005. “OVERVIEW OF CAPTIVE TAX AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS” from the Atlas Legal, Tax and Financial Aspects of Captive Insurance Companies Conference in San Francisco, July 11-12, 2005. “EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND CAPTIVES©” from the Atlas Legal, Tax and Financial Aspects of Captive Insurance Companies Conference in San Francisco, July 11-12, 2005. “UNDERSTANDING KEY ELEMENTS OF GROUP CAPTIVES AND RISK RETENTION GROUPS©” from the IBC 9th Annual International Captives Congress in Orlando, June 13-15, 2005
7/13/05	REVENUE RULING 2005-40 (PDF file)	Recently, the IRS analyzed 4 hypothetical captive arrangements and concluded that 3 of the 4 lacked risk distribution, a hallmark of “insurance” status. The ruling that clarified this issue was Rev Rul 2005-40. We asked Tom Jones of McDermott, Will & Emery -- one of captive.com's favorite taxation experts -- to help us explain the impact of this ruling to our visitors. We think you will find this brief, information-packed presentation most helpful.
5/9/05	Why Own When You Can Rent?	This presentation was delivered at the 2005 CICA Conference by three captive.com members: Don Riggin and Rich Turner formerly from Liberty Mutual Alternative Markets; and Sean Rider from HSBC Insurance Management The slides give you a wealth of information you'll need to sort out the classic debate -- Buy vs. Rent 101. Should you still have questions, contact information is provided at the end of the presentation. Outstanding!
Feb. 2005	Using Captives for Employee Benefits	This well-received presentation by Milliman's Bill Thompson was delivered in December 2004 at the SCCIA Fifth Annual Executive Educational Conference. The slides are "meaty" and informative, and answer these questions and more: Why are employers using their captive for employee benefits? Who has done it so far? How have the existing transactions been structured? What are the primary issues that employers need to evaluate? How do you make it happen? What does the future hold?
Sept. 2004	Corporate Governance: Navigating a New Channel	At the 2004 VCIA Conference, Monte Jahnke (Kerr, Russell & Weber), Steve Scammel ((Towers-Perrin/CICR)), Debbie Lambert (Johnson Lambert), and Alan Fleming (Guernsey Regulator) joined forces to deliver this outstanding presentation, updating you on corporate governance issues directly impacting captives.
April 2004	Creating A Virtual Captive	“Creating A Virtual Captive” is the title of a case study presentation of how Government Entities Mutual (GEM) developed a virtual infrastructure within sixty days after it started operations on January 1, 2003. The presentation was delivered by GEM President John Salisbury at the recent CICA annual conference. It can be viewed here on captive.com. GEM is a captive domiciled in DC with 2003 net written premiums of $4.5 million. The Company has three full-time staff and contracts services with several service providers. The presentation details how a capital investment of less than $110,000 made a robust captive infrastructure a reality. John’s avocation is serving as a principal at captive.com where he shares his many years of experience as a captive and group self-insurance program experience with others.
January 2004	Captive Governance 101	Monte Jahnke from Kerr, Russell & Weber participated in a panel that delivered this fine presentation at the Cayman 2003 Captive Forum in December. While much of the information on governance applies to all captive domiciles, Cayman's governance issues are covered in detail. The presentation includes both slides and full supporting articles that deliver the topic to you in considerable depth. We are confident that you will love this one!
March 2003	TRIA -- Accessing Coverage for Captives	Joel Chansky from Milliman gives an in-depth perspective on TRIA's impact on captives. He includes numerous examples to clarify his thoughts.
June 2002	Captive Governance in a Post-Enron World,	PowerPoint Presentation by Monte Jahnke from the 6th Annual International Captives Congress, June 2002
Dec. 2001	The Fog Lifts on Tax Definition of 'Insurance, presented by Tom Jones of McDermott, Will & Emery. Some visitors have reported problems using this presentation. An alternative is to download the Power Point file directly to your hard drive.	One of the fine presentations from IBC's 7th Annual Executive Forum on Captives

Links to Instructional Events, Articles and White Papers

May 2009: Captives 101: Managing Cost and Risk. A comprehensive introductory guide from Towers Perrin that will give you a general understanding of captives, along with guidance on how to determine whether or not a captive makes sense for your organization. What is a captive? How about domiciles? Why form a captive? Read Case Studies, ERISA regulations, and much, much more.

Spring 2009: Medicare Secondary Payor Reporting Requirements: New Compliance Obligations for Health, Liability, Captive and Other Insurers©

October 2008: CAPTIVE FEASIBILITY. Could forming a captive lower my cost of risk? Would a captive provide us with increased capacity and flexibility of coverage? Would formalizing risk retention via a captive structure have a beneficial impact on the risk culture within the company and help get claims under control? Towers Perrin analysts answer these questions, then lay out the process they use to implement ERM through the captive feasibility study process. Great stuff!

Also, to help you stay abreast of the terminology so often bandied about in captive insurance circles, Towers Perrin has updated its Captive Insurance Company Glossary.

October 2008: "Fundamentals of the Financial Crisis: Mismanaging Risk." This download gives you the full text of the keynote address given by Dr. William Poole, the former President & CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, at the 2008 Delaware Captive Insurance Association annual conference. This is a sobering report indeed, and very helpful to the captive industry as we evaluate the impact that this crisis is likely to have on our industry as well as our own personal finances.

July 2008: Give Diligence Its Due: Aspirat Primo Fortuna by By Neil Putman, CPA, CPCU, AIAF, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, SPARTA Insurance Company. This white paper summarizes the importance of the relationship between the insurance program manager and the insurance carrier. Putman discusses how due diligence is the first effort in establishing the operational relationship between carrier and program administrator. He also describes the "enterprise" in risk assessment, and concludes with the valuable payback that results from viewing due diligence as a process never to be ignored.

April 2008: White Paper on Captive Insurance Companies prepared for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, prepared by the NzCIA. This is a good Captive Basics white paper, and contains helpful information on New Zealand as a domicile.

April 2008: "Captive Insurance Companies - What to Consider When Establishing and Operating Captives" by Patrick Theriault [Editor's Note: This is an outstanding "Captives 101" white paper that we know you will appreciate, updated to reflect recent changes in the industry.]

March 2008: Visit Cedar Consulting's Weblog, Ibi est Vox in Sermo -- In conversation there is power! Very informative indeed.

January 2008: IRS Issues Guidance with Respect to “Cell” Companies. This is an important article written by a long-time friend of captive.com, Rick Irvine, Partner, Tax Services, with PWC in Bermuda. Our thanks to Rick for sharing this information.

26 July 2007: Market Briefing: Group Captives -- Competing In a Soft Market. This outstanding article, was shared with us by an old captive.com friend, Andrew Berry of Newport Risk Services. Andrew expertly analyzes the competitive challenges facing group captives, their inherent competitive advantages and strategies to compete. The briefing is focused on group captives including risk retention groups. The discussion also applies to other group risk financing mechanisms such as governmental pools and self-insured workers compensation groups.

8 June 2007: Use of Online Training by Captives -- a brief introduction to a timely white paper written by Advanced Risk Systems entitled The Use of Online Technology by the Public Entity Pooling Industry. We think the content applies to the captive industry as a whole. John's article supplies the link to this downloadable white paper. Reproduced with kind permission of Advance Risk Management Systems.

15 August 2006: "Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis - Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions" by John O'Brien. [Editor's Note: A primer on ART solutions that anybody in the medical field needs to read.]

November 16, 2005: Captives and Letters of Credit -- A Happy or Necessary Union? The majority of captive programs require a letter of credit at some point or another. This fine article by Patrick Theriault of Wilmington Trust Captive Management Services will give you the background you will need to be conversant on this important subject.