2007 Brings Another Year of Solid Growth for Captive Insurance
32 Captives Licensed Brings Total Licenses Issued in Vermont to 823
The State of Vermont licensed 32 new captive insurance companies in 2007 as it passed the 800-license milestone, according to data released by the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA).
The new captives formed include 13 pure captives, 8 special purpose financial captives (SPFC), 6 new risk retention groups, 2 association captives, 2 branch captives and 1 industrial insured captive, bringing the total number of licenses issued in Vermont to 823.
“2007 was another good year for captive growth,” said Leonard Crouse, Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Captive Insurance. “We continue to see a lot of quality captives with steady activity across all lines, especially in healthcare and in securitized transactions.”
Some of the companies in the class of 2007 include: Cephalon, Covidian, Ernst & Young, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company and Mount Kisco Medical Group, which became the 800th captive licensed in Vermont since 1981.
Vermont passed a new captive law earlier in the year to further enable securitized transactions by captives and helped spur the formation of 8 SPFC captives in 2007, including Unum Group; Sun Life Financial; Met Life; Genworth Financial; AIG; Amerus Life; Pacific Life and Aegon.
“There has been a tremendous amount of interest in securitization and I expect 2008 to bring even more. There is no better place to put this business than Vermont,” said Peter Raymond, Director of Captive Insurance. Vermont has currently licensed thirteen such programs.
Another trend has been the continued growth in healthcare facility captives. “Vermont has nearly 100 programs writing over $1 billion in premiums in medical malpractice coverage,” said Dan Towle, Director of Financial Services. “I expect continued growth in professional liability captives for doctors and hospitals in 2008.”
“Vermont will continue to take steps to maintain its reputation as the gold standard of domiciles,” said Governor Jim Douglas. “The changes that Vermont made in its laws regarding securitized transactions demonstrate our commitment to meeting changing needs of the industry.”
Vermont is the largest captive insurance domicile in the U.S. and second largest in the world in terms of gross written premium, with an estimated $13 billion in 2007. Vermont is also home to 44 of the companies that make up the Fortune 100 and 19 of the companies that make up the Dow 30 have Vermont captives.
Upcoming educational seminars are scheduled for the following cities: Seattle, New York, Cincinnati and Charlotte. For more information on Vermont’s captive industry, please visit www.VermontCaptive.com or call Dan Towle at 802-828-5232 or email dan@thinkvermont.com.
The Department of Economic Development operates within the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, whose mission is to Help Vermonters Improve Their Quality of Life and Build Strong Communities.
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