When it comes to alternative investments, you need to meet your obligations, according to Rob Ramos, senior account executive at JLT Insurance management.
Speaking on a panel about investment during the North Carolina Captive Insurance Associate conference held Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramos highlighted that “property is not easy to sell sometimes”, and that at the captive level, captive managers need to receive help by clients meeting their obligations.
Ramos said that captive managers are going to “work with you”, but “have to put the insurance first and make sure you meet all those obligations”.
He added that when issuing an alternative investment, communication and transparency is key.
Another panellist, Leane Rafalko, chief captive analyst at the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI), agreed with Ramos.
The moderator, TJ Strickland of Rives & Associates, moved on to discuss life insurance policies, asking Refalko if the NCDOI does them.
She said although the NCDOI does not do them, “we are aware captive owners may want their captive insurance company to invest in life insurance policies, the department, when vetting the captive insurers investment policy, ensures the criteria for approving these types of investments are included such as the beneficiary and owner of the life insurance policy is the captive insurer".
She added: “The issuing life insurance company must have an ‘A+’ with A.M. Best and has maintained the rating for at least three years, the issuing life insurance company must guarantee the cash surrender value of the policy, and the cash surrender payment are made to the captive insurer in a timely manner.”
Ramos admitted that he personally had not seen a life insurance policy where a captive is a beneficiary, but that he had seen life insurance policies that had been admitted by a captive.
