Karen Hsi
Programme manager, captive programmes
UC Office of the President
Personal bio: I was born and raised in Fremont, California. I’ve studied ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop dance for 25 years. Throughout high school and college, I’ve had some very unique opportunities to travel the world dancing for government officials, backup dancing for famous celebrities, and cheering for college sports teams as part of their dance squad. Currently, I spend my spare time focusing on my health and fitness, taking dance classes, circuit training, or kickboxing. On the weekends, I enjoy spending time with my family and volunteering with youth ministry at my church.
Professional profile: I double majored in psychology and education at the University of California, Berkeley. I started out pursuing higher education business administration. I was fortunate enough to land a position at the Office of the President as an intern with risk services while I was still an undergrad at Berkeley. Interning for two years provided me with the opportunity to learn about the university’s insurance programmes in more depth and I was hired upon graduation as a liability programmes analyst, where I was in charge of building and managing the travel insurance programme system-wide for departments such as education abroad and other insurance programmes for students, faculty, and staff across the system. With the knowledge I had acquired of insurance and the university system, I eventually had the opportunity to help run the university’s captive insurance programmes and end up in the role I currently hold today.
How did you end up in the captive industry?
My internship in risk services at the Office of the President helped to familiarise me with the University’s systemwide risk management and insurance programmes. My analyst position allowed me to really manage and grow two specific liability programmes that were run out of the University of California Office of the President. When the university’s captive, Fiat Lux, was formed in 2012, I had the privilege to participate in one of the first workgroups, a student initiatives workgroup, focused on student utilisations of the captive and how the captive could potentially bring value and generate savings in that space. Up until then, the captive hadn’t been very active, it was just doing basic deductible buyback policies. When they finally hired an executive director to run the captive in 2015, Fiat Lux started writing over 25 lines of coverage and really took off as an innovative space to help the university look for alternative financing mechanisms for its unique risks. When they decided to hire the second position of programme manager for Fiat Lux, I knew I had to apply. It was the perfect position for someone curious, creative, and constantly seeking challenges and problem-solving opportunities.
What is your impression of the industry?
Exciting, compelling, innovative, entrepreneurial, adaptable, dynamic, and intellectual. I am excited to see how the industry will continue to embrace and respond to changing technology and the unique coverages that will stem from new and emerging risks.
What are your aspirations for your career in the captive industry?
I aspire to acquire greater responsibility to run and manage an entire captive operation. I hope that in doing so, I will be able to drive captive innovation in institutions that are just beginning to explore captives as an alternative financing mechanism or to further develop novel strategies and efficiencies that will help enhance existing programmes.
What advice do you have for someone considering a role in the industry?
You can learn so much if you are willing to put yourself out there and ask questions. People in the industry are very willing to help pass on the knowledge and grow the next generation of professionals. For anyone that is interested in moving into a fast-paced, ever-changing space, filled with creative problem solving and relationship building, I wouldn’t discount looking into a role within this industry.
Courtney W. ClaflinExecutive director – captive programmes, University of California “Karen Hsi is the principal architect of three new captive risk financing arrangements in our captive platform that in the aggregate, will exceed $50 million of premium annually. Karen has accomplished all of this while still in her 20’s and in her first two years in the captive industry. I highly recommend her.”
