Forty-five new captive insurance companies were licensed in Vermont in 2021 — the same year the state celebrated its 40th year in the captive industry. Vermont is now home to 620 licensed captives, consisting of 589 active and 31 dormant captives. Vermont’s 52 sponsored cell captives currently host nearly 500 cells and separate accounts, in addition to the licensed captive companies. The new captives were licensed in 17 different industries, the main industries being healthcare, real estate, manufacturing, insurance, and transportation. At least five of Vermont’s new captives in 2021 were formed by companies with international roots, including the UK, Japan, Germany, Russia and Australia. Vermont has been experiencing growth in the number of new cells within sponsored captives, at a similar pace as new company licenses, with nine of the 45 new companies formed in 2021 being sponsored cell companies. Vermont has licensed a total of 1,242 captive insurance companies since 1981 and remains the largest US domicile for captive insurance and third largest in the world. With an active pipeline of prospective new captive insurance companies already underway for 2022, the state expects continued growth in the coming year. Brittany Nevins, captive insurance economic development director for the state of Vermont, says: “Not only are new captives forming at a rapid rate, but fewer captives have been dissolving this year than we typically see. We issued 45 new licenses, and only 14 captives were dissolved due to mergers, acquisitions, and other business reasons. This speaks to the strength of captive insurance as a long-term risk management tool and is something we expect to continue to see with the continuation of the hard insurance market.” Rich Smith, president of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association, comments: “It’s been an incredible year of celebrating Vermont’s rich 40-year history. The growth this year speaks to the expertise of Vermont’s regulators and industry service providers, the consistency of support for captives in the legislature, and the ability of all involved to adapt to the fast-changing needs of the industry during these volatile times.”
