The North Carolina Captive Insurance Association’s (NCCIA) 2018 Annual Conference saw industry experts from across the state, and the US, descend on the Hotels Sheraton and Le Meridian to expand their knowledge on the fastest growing US captive domicile.
The North Carolina Captive Insurance Association’s (NCCIA) 2018 Annual Conference saw industry experts from across the state, and the US, descend on the Hotels Sheraton and Le Meridian to expand their knowledge on the fastest growing US captive domicile.
The conference began with an in-depth captive 101 by Debbie Walker, senior deputy commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI), Patrick Long of River Oak Risk, and David Sayles of Berkley Accident and Health.
Officially opening the event, however, was Col. J. Quincy Collins, a retired US Air Force pilot who was captured during the Vietnam War. Collins gave honest and terrifying stories that showed how far the human spirit can be stretched, and how much service personnel could suffer in defense of a nation. Later, Jeremy Colombik, president of Management Services International, Martin Eveleigh, president of Atlas Insurance Management, and Jonathan Reich, of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice received the distinguished service award for their work on the NCCIA board of directors.
Eveleigh commented: “It’s nice to have my time working as a board member here recognised.”
“I’ve really enjoyed working on the board, it’s been five years and during that time we’ve seen tremendous growth here in North Carolina, that’s been great to see.”
During the same session, Morgan Weatherly, senior account manager at Atlas Insurance Management, and Anne Marie Towle, executive vice president and consulting practice leader of JLT Insurance, were appointed to the NCCIA board.
The captive insurance industry has been a boom for North Carolina’s economy, and in a later session, Walker showed that the industry had added $71 million to the state’s economy between 2014 and 2017.
She highlighted that last year, the NCDOI licensed 66 companies and 68 cells.
Walker said that the NCDOI was ”really proud of the growth and that the industry is choosing North Carolina as their domicile”.
“We have really grown and that has allowed us to remain responsive and up to date with legislation and regulation.”
She highlighted that it has been a full five years since the state’s captive programme was passed and that the NCDOI was really happy with the results.
During the conference, speakers and attendees highlighted a range of issues. For example, Mark Elwell, vice president of risk at RMC Group, suggested that tax reform, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scrutiny, and the paradise papers are key reasons as to why more captives are redomiciling onshore.
Elwell said that “there is still a stigma to being offshore” and that “tax reform can lead to a lot of companies redomiciling”.
Self-procurement taxes and previous bad experiences with regulators are other reasons that Elwell highlighted as instances that captives may want to redomicile.
But Elwell pointed out that, ultimately, the captive and client’s needs and risks affect the decision, and said there is “nothing wrong” with being an offshore domicile.
In another session, NCDOI senior deputy commissioner Michelle Osborne highlighted that technology is in a period of renaissance and captives have a massive part to play.
Osborne said that the future would see “75 percent of all cars [being] autonomous”, and autonomous car manufacturers, including Waymo and Tesla, are offering insurance products on purchase.
She said: “Things are happening quicker than ever—I call it the renaissance of technology.”
Osborne, who has 25 years’ experience in the property and casualty side of insurance, said that when she was in kindergarten, she had no idea she’d be in the insurance industry, but that “once you’ve been in the industry, it always finds a way to pull you back in”.
Osborne highlighted that there are “more laws that need to be modernised today” to make the industry “honest and right for the consumer”.
“When you can’t find a place to put something, you find a way to insure it, and that is why the captive industry is so amazing.”
Finally, what was arguably one of the most memorable aspects of the conference for all attendees, was the 70s disco.
Here, there were fake afros, vibrant colours, and even a hot dog costume, as attendees let their hair down and enjoyed what was an unforgettable party at an unforgettable conference.
