Latest Posts
Another ICCIE Graduate at USA Risk Group
Congratulations to Alicia Rubalcaba for recently obtaining her Associate in Captive Insurance (ACI) designation. The ACI curriculum is a rigorous 18 to 24 month course of study focused on the various issues surrounding the management of captive insurance companies. Topics covered range from accounting to risk management to reinsurance to loss analysis and everything in between. With Alicia’s accomplishment, USA Risk Group has now graduated 12 individuals through the ICCIE program. If not the most graduates of any captive manager, we are in the top two. Alicia is an account executive working from our Montpelier, Vermont location and she has been with us for three years.
Another Independent Bites the Dust
No, this is not a repeat. Another independent captive manager is no more. It was announced Friday, June 25th that Risk Services has merged with AmTrust, with AmTrust holding the majority interest of the merger. This is probably the biggest independent to go this route since IAS was merged into Marsh.
USA Risk Group is fully committed to continuing as the largest independent captive manager in the world. Being the 4th largest manager in the world, we are able to compete with any other captive manager in the sixteen domiciles we have clients. With a 5% market share, we feel we are properly positioned to take advantage of our flexibility and innovativeness to bring creative solutions to our clients and prospects.
USA Risk Group (Cayman), Ltd. Moves Offices
View from the new office
USA Risk Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the move of our Cayman Islands office to 5th Floor, Queensgate House, 113 South Church Street, Georgetown. As some may know, USA Risk Group (Cayman), Ltd. has been in existence since the summer of 2005. Since that time, our offices have been on the first floor of the Grand Pavilion, a building with much history, including a stay from the Queen of England when she visited the island. The building was a hotel and home to the offices of Fred Reiss, the grandfather of the alternative risk transfer marketplace.
During the fall of 2004, Hurricane Ivan devastated the island with the most damage created by a single storm in years. At the time, JLT Captive Management resided on the first floor of the Grand Pavilion and returned to their office space to 30 inches of water and many destroyed documents. Not too hard to believe with an island that’s 12 feet above sea level and a storm the magnitude of Ivan. After purchasing the JLT book of business and acquiring the staff who are all too familiar with the Ivan devastation, USA Risk Group has attempted to move to higher ground. Our new location is on the fifth floor and is just another step in our strategic disaster recovery plan.
And with our new elevation comes a stunning view of downtown and Seven Mile Beach.
Captive Insurance Education
Please see a recent post on the Captive Review blog regarding the important of captive insurance education:
http://www.captivereview.com/blogs/573392/-the-importance-of-education-.thtml
Regulators: What’s going on?
Was it something I said? I just got done announcing the departure of Paulette Thabault as Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Vermont and now I have two more announcements.
JP Schmidt, Insurance Commissioner of the State of Hawaii and Peter Raymond, Director of Captive Operations for the State of Vermont, have both tendered their resignations to move into the private sector. Mr. Schmidt held the top post in Hawaii for seven years and indicated that he is glad to be continuing his work in the insurance industry, albeit, from the private legal sector. Mr. Raymond has put in over twenty years as a regulator in Vermont. He will be moving on as a contract auditor performing work for the Florida Hurricane Fund.
We wish them well in their new endeavors and are glad to see that they won’t be in roles that could create a conflict with some of the captives they once regulated.
Authors
Jeff, a Certified Public Accountant since 1990, has over 19 years experience in the captive insurance industry. Jeff has had experience working for a large broker, a self-managed captive insurance company and for the past 10 years has focused the majority of his time in the creation and formation of captive arrangements ranging from single parents to sponsored facilities to risk retention groups. He is an active participant with the Vermont Captive Insurance Association and other industry associations and has also spoken at several industry conferences. He has been a member of the VCIA’s legislative committee for the past 10 years. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in Business Administration.
Gary, a Scottish Chartered Accountant, presides over the entire USA Risk Group family. He develops innovative alternative and traditional risk strategies and programs for clients and prospects of USA Risk Group. With over nineteen years of experience in the alternative market, he has been involved in the establishment of numerous single parent captives, association captives, risk retention groups, and traditional group insurance programs. He has also spoken at several national industry conferences, served on the NRRA membership committee, and was Treasurer of the Hawaii Captive Insurance Council. He currently serves on the Legislative Committee of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association and serves as a faculty member for the International Center for Captive Insurance Education.
