Captive Insurance Industry Expands

Vermont adds 37 new captive insurance entities in 2006. New trends of Triple X and health care facility captives are gaining momentum.

Montpelier, VT (PRWeb) January 23, 2007 -- "Steady and sustained growth," is how Vermont officials described 2006's final tally for captive insurance as 37 new captive insurance entities were licensed. New to the nation's largest domicile, include such well-known companies as Starbucks Corp., McGraw-Hill, Principal Financial Group, Ameren, and Aegon.

According to the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA) the 37 new captive insurance companies licensed last year equals the number of new captives licensed in 2005. The total number of captive licenses issued in Vermont is now 791, making it the largest captive domicile in the United States and the third largest in the world.

We are seeing an emerging trend in the expanded interest in Vermont by the so-called 'Triple X' securitization captives and by employee benefits

"Vermont is proud of its reputation as the gold standard of domiciles," said Governor Jim Douglas. "We will continue to make sure that we keep pace with the changing needs of the industry."

The new captives formed include 25 pure captives, five sponsored, three new risk retention groups, three association captives, and one industrial insured captive.

"We are seeing an emerging trend in the expanded interest in Vermont by the so-called 'Triple X' securitization captives and by employee benefits," said Derick White, Director of Captive Insurance. "These 'Triple X' captive facilities are providing a way for life insurers to form reinsurance captives."

Vermont has currently licensed five such programs, with more on the horizon. 2006 also saw the licensing of five new employee benefits captives writing both ERISA and non-ERISA benefits. Another trend that has emerged is the continued growth in health care facility captives.

"Vermont now has nearly 100 programs writing over $1.4 billion in premiums in medical malpractice coverage," said Dan Towle, Director of Financial Services. "I think it's fair to say that we'll continue to see strong activity in 2007."

Interest in Vermont as a domicile was very high on several recent recruitment trips, including the World Captive Forum in Arizona. Upcoming educational seminars are scheduled in Houston, Boston and Washington, D.C.

For more information on Vermont's captive industry, visit VermontCaptive.com.

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• Derick White to Take Position in the Captive Insurance Private Sector 2007-11-26
• Vermont Passes New Captive Insurance Legislation 2007-06-12
• Vermont Licenses Its 800th Captive 2007-04-23
• Vermont's Top Captive Regulator is Honored for Contributions to Captive Insurance Industry 2007-04-10