One of the pioneers of the captive insurance movement discusses the characteristics of group and association captive insurance and describes some of the key success factors for association and group captives. Hugh Rosenbaum identifies a number captive characteristics, including insured sophistication level; the degree of control from outside parties, such as captive managers or insurance brokers; and the size (number of insureds/members) of the captive. Mr. Rosenbaum correlates the characteristics above directly with specific outcomes that commonly arise with captives. These outcomes include the level of insured/member involvement and control, costs, insured/member turnover, and ability smooth out insurance cycles. The key success factors for captives are a sense of urgency to solve risk finance problems, ownership or control of the captive by the insureds, a long-term commitment with minimal attrition of insureds, appropriate exit provisions, an understanding of the upsides and downsides of risk sharing and loss sharing, careful underwriting standards, and special cases. In addition, Mr. Rosenbaum expands his review to discuss profit allocation, proportional parity, claims involvement, risk management, and specialized services.