Montpelier, VT – 2017 proved to be another highly successful year for Vermont’s captive insurance industry.  The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation reports 24 new captive licenses, bringing Vermont’s total to 1,112, with 566 active captive insurance companies. The new captives were made up of 11 pure captives, 5 sponsored captives, 3 Risk Retention Groups (RRGs), 3 special purpose financial insurers, 1 branch captive and 1 industrial insured captive. New and notable captives include Life Time Fitness, Inc., AAA Northeast, Barclays Group U.S., Inc., and Bright Horizons Family Solutions.

Vermont continued to see growth in the healthcare sector, with 5 new captives formed in 2017.  New healthcare captives included Practice Protection Association of America, Inc., Assurance Agency, Northwell Health, Inc., Pharma Management Enterprises and Inspirien Holdings, Corp. Healthcare represents Vermont’s largest industry sector for captive insurance, with 100 active captives.

Risk Retention Groups account for three of the new licenses, bringing the active total to 90.  Vermont continues to hold a dominant market share with over 60% of all RRG premium volume being written by Vermont companies.

“The quality of Vermont’s 2017 licensees was outstanding,” said David Provost, Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Captive Insurance.  “Vermont’s focus will always be licensing quality companies and regulating them in an appropriate manner commensurate with their risk.”

Ian Davis, Vermont’s Director of Financial Services said “the new licensing activity in 2017 reflected a wide diversity of lines being written and industries served, highlighting our state’s ability to evolve and meet the risk management needs of the market. We are not resting on our laurels and are already off to a great start in 2018.”

Also noteworthy in 2017, Vermont and its captive leadership team earned several awards including “US Domicile of the Year” for the fourth straight year.  Vermont officials were also recognized by British Publication, Captive Review Magazine on the “Power 50” list, ranking the 50 most influential people in the world of captive insurance as voted by industry peers.

“Sandy Bigglestone, Vermont’s Director of Captive Insurance, noted that “a significant part of what makes Vermont so attractive is the expertise of our staff when it comes to analysis and examinations, and that we employ our own examiners, which keeps exam costs reasonable for our captive and Risk Retention Groups.”

Vermont Governor Phil Scott stated “It’s great to see another strong year of growth for captive insurance in Vermont. This industry continues to be an incredible example of how our state can support growth in important business sectors. As my Administration focuses on growing the economy and making Vermont more affordable, we recognize the important role the captive industry plays in those efforts and remain committed to strengthening our ‘Gold Standard’ reputation.”

Captive insurance is a regulated form of self insurance that has been around since the 1960’s, and has been a part of the Vermont insurance industry since 1981, when Vermont passed the Special Insurer Act. Captive insurance companies are formed by companies or groups of companies as a form of alternative insurance to better manage their own risk. Captives are commonly used for corporate lines of insurance such as property, general liability, products liability, or professional liability. Growth sectors of the captive insurance industry include professional medical malpractice coverage for doctors and hospitals and the continued trend of small and mid-sized companies forming captive insurance companies.

For more information on Vermont’s captive industry, visit www.vermontcaptive.com, call Ian Davis at 802-828-5232 or email ian.davis@vermont.gov.