Vermont now has more captives in the healthcare sector than any other, after the state licensed eight new healthcare captives last year.
Dan Towle, Vermont’s director of financial services, said: “The continued formation of hospitals and doctors’ groups forming Vermont captives has been a very positive trend that we expect to continue.”
Vermont also licensed captives from other sectors including manufacturing, insurance, retail, real estate, construction, financing, lending, leasing and ‘other’.
In total, the state licensed 26 new captives last year. These were made up of 15 pure captives, five risk retention groups (RRGs), three special purpose financial insurers, one sponsored captive, one industrial insured captive and one association captive.
The five new RRGs bring the active total to 93. This figure means Vermont continues to hold a dominant market share with over 60 percent of all RRG premium volume being written by Vermont companies.
Sandy Bigglestone, Vermont’s director of captive insurance, said: “We employ our own examiners which keeps exam costs reasonable for captives and RRGs.”
Out of the 93, two captives were redomesticated from the Cayman Islands and one from Washington DC.
According to the Vermont Department Financial Regulation, some of the “notable captives” of 2016 included Tempur Sealy International, Inc., Domino’s Pizza Franchisees, Swiss Re Life & Health America, West Marine, National Life, the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and The Brady Corporation.
Vermont is now home to a total of 1,088 licensees, with 584 active captive insurance companies.
The state has already kicked off business in 2017, with one new captive licensed.
Vermont governor Phil Scott said: “It’s great to see another strong year of growth for captive insurance in Vermont.”
He added: “This industry has continued to be an important contributor to our economy, and its 2016 growth—particularly in the healthcare sector—along with the national and international awards Vermont has received, reinforces our ‘gold standard’ reputation in this sector.”