Archives for "Industry News"
Osborne on the State of Risk Retention Groups
Gary Osborne
Gary Osborne, President of USA Risk Group, sat down with AM Best recently to discuss the state of the Risk Retention Group marketplace and how some of the proposed federal regulations might affect those entities. Please click here to view this informative interview.
Another USA Risk Group Managed Captive Receives A.M. Best Rating
Congratulations to United Contractors Insurance Company, Inc., a Risk Retention Group (UCIC) domiciled in the District of Columbia has received a B+ (Good) financial strength rating from AM Best along with a “bbb-“ issuer credit rating. The outlook for both ratings is stable.
UCIC received these ratings due to its adequate capitalization, its thorough business plan, experienced management team, hands-on claims handling procedures and its niche in the contractors and artisans business segment. UCIC has been in business for the past 6 years and is managed from our Charleston, South Carolina office.
Our other captives with ratings include:
Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group, Inc.
AmerInst Insurance Group, Ltd.
Consumer Specialties Insurance Company (Risk Retention Group)
National Alliance for Nonprofits, Inc.
National Independent Truckers Insurance Company, A Risk Retention Group
Paratransit Insurance Company, a Mutual Risk Retention Group
Titan Insurance Company, Inc., Risk Retention Group
Terra Insurance Company, A Risk Retention Group
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.
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.
