Western Region Captive Insurance Conference
Brandy Alderson, chair of the Western Region Captive Insurance Conference discusses what’s in store for this year’s in-person event
What’s in store for the Western Region Captive Insurance Conference? What are you most looking forward to?
After the cancellation of the 2020 Western Region Captive Insurance Conference (WRCIC), we are thrilled to be able to have an in-person conference in 2021. We had surveyed prior attendees, and although some were concerned about potential travel restrictions, 2021 registration is on track to be as high, or higher, than the previous conference held in Salt Lake City. The WRCIC committee is ecstatic to be able to meet with captive owners and our industry peers in person rather than via videoconference.
Can you talk us through some of the hot topics at this year’s event?
We will be revisiting some of our most popular topics including a captive tax update with Bruce Wright and Charles Lavelle, our annual regulator roundup which provides updates from the western domicile regulators, and our recurring Brightest Opportunities in the captive industry session. After the events of 2020, we felt it important to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. In light of this, we will have a session dedicated to the impacts of the pandemic on the investments, captive insurer investment strategies, and the outlook for coming out the other side. We will also have a captive utilization session that will address how captives benefited captive owners during the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
We are also pleased to welcome both of our keynote speakers. Gavin Christensen of Kickstart Seed Fund will open the conference with an address sharing where people and tech align.
Tim Ballard of Operation Underground Railroad will give the closing keynote discussing his work in abolishing child trafficking. Both of these speakers are a first for our conference and will make for an engaging event.
You will be hosting an in-person conference — how will this work and what can people expect from the event?
The COVID-19 restrictions seem to be changing frequently over the last few weeks and months. The WRCIC and the conference hotel are committed to complying with all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state, and local regulations for the event. We have also arranged the conference to space tables a much as possible.
What has the WRCIC been working on so far this year?
After the cancellation of the 2020 conference, the WRCIC focused on virtual education throughout the summer. Our focus since autumn last year has been planning the 2021 in-person conference.
What are the biggest challenges right now for the Western Region domiciles?
The captive climate in the west has been relatively steady or even growing due to increased interest in captives in response to the challenging commercial insurance market. Western Region domiciles will need to continue to do what they have historically done, which is maintain the balance between regulation and understanding the changing needs of the captive owners and industry as a whole. The western domiciles have done a fantastic job of maintaining this balance in the past and I have no doubt they will continue in the future.
