Ahead of this year’s Western Region Captive Insurance Conference, event chair Renea Louie talks to Rebecca Delaney on what to expect from the 2022 conference, hot topics on the agenda, and the current landscape of the captive industry in Western Region domiciles
Following the success of last year’s conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Western Region Captive Insurance Conference (WRCIC) once again returns to an in-person event, this time hosted at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada between 27-29 June. WRCIC is a limited liability corporation linking the state captive insurance associations of Arizona, Missouri, Nevada and Utah together to jointly host an annual industry conference. The corporation consists of two board members from each state association. The partnership is instrumental in linking captive owners, regulators, service providers, educational institutions and students across Western Region domiciles with captive legislation.
This year’s conference chair, Renea Louie (who also serves as chief operations officer of Pro Group Captive Management Services), explains the benefits of the Western Region partnership: “The concept provides for many domiciles to come together annually and provide an efficient, broad and effective conference, robust with regulators and diverse domicile topics.”
She adds that the corporation provides immense efficiencies and cost savings for members of the captive industry; rather than attending four or more individual state conferences every year, WRCIC provides a “win-win” consolidated event.
Not to mention, Louie adds, the regional approach creates and fosters valuable synergies between neighbouring regulators and service providers.
Louie highlights that WRCIC is further strengthened by the dedication of committee members, with several having served since the board’s inception where they worked with the early adopters who saw the value and potential WRCIC offered.
“The dedicated team that serves on the WRCIC board today is incredibly hardworking and we cannot thank them enough. We are absolutely going to knock it out of the park for the industry this year,” Louie says.
Turning to the hot topics on the 2022 conference agenda (straplined “Viva La Captives!”), Louie says: “This year I am particularly proud of the committee and their sophistication to take WRCIC to the next level. We have expanded the sessions, topics and tracks to include pooling discussions, claims management and many other hot topics.”
Scheduled conference sessions include “The four C’s: captives, control, consolidation and change”. If this mnemonic alone seems daunting to captive beginners, not to worry — the event includes an introductory session and discussions on industry hot topics to get you started. For those already familiar with the captive industry, sessions are available on a range of topics, including captive taxation, the importance of cooperation between service providers, pooling operations, claims management, and a “Regulator Roundup”.
Louie adds that this year’s conference will feature more networking time and special events, including a golf tournament and a unique “Minus 5” ice experience. “Las Vegas will not disappoint as one of the most fun networking events in recent times,” she states.
Looking more broadly at the captive industry, Louie recognises “[it] has been doing a great job for many years as it grows and evolves”, particularly following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed almost every aspect of people’s personal and professional lives.
The effects of the pandemic on the hardening commercial insurance market conditions — and, by extension, the increased interest in captives and alternative risk transfer — has been widely discussed among industry participants, leaving Louie to comment: “There is a palpable positive energy around us as we move into the next years of service for the captive industry. Business owners are now turning to the captive insurance industry at the highest rate ever to solve problems the traditional insurance carriers cannot, especially those issues that were painfully obvious during the pandemic.”
As with any field or discipline, the ever-evolving captive industry is driven by changing client demands, new and expanding regulation, new technology, and innovation, Louie notes.
She adds that, in this dynamic environment, it is important for Western domiciles to “keep our eye on the ball and empower the cycle of positive progress. This requires leadership and intelligent dedicated practitioners to renew and constantly update our knowledge and skills.”
This knowledge and skill set is particularly essential as the captive industry, located in Western Region domiciles and more widely, continues to address the challenging high demand for services and expertise at an accelerated pace. This demand requires a talent pool of qualified employers and employees — in the lingering context of the talent crisis, Louie explains that a qualified and capable workforce must be nurtured to meet the demands of business.
“WRCIC remains committed to quality education and standards to that end,” she says.
Describing the International Center for Captive Insurance Education and the Captive Insurance Companies Association as “dominating forces” in providing industry-wide best standards in education and practices, Louie notes their ongoing relationship with WRCIC.
“WRCIC has always partnered and supported both powerhouse organisations, and in turn they have always supported WRCIC. These are important partnerships that we will continue to nurture and grow to meet the coming challenges.”
Looking forward, Louie concludes: “The next several years will bring large growth and demand for qualified services, and WRCIC remains committed to the best education, standards and practices.”
