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Richard Smith, president of the VCIA
5 August 2016USA analysis

VCIA president looks forward to captive conference


Richard Smith, president of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA), looks ahead to this year’s annual VCIA conference.

The annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference opens on August 9, 2016 in Burlington, Vermont. Captive International talked to Richard Smith, president of the VCIA about what the organisation has in store for it.

“This is our 31st conference, so we go back many, many years. We started off in a small conference room in a tiny hotel in South Burlington, Vermont, and it’s grown since that time to the point where we welcome over 1,000 people to Vermont for the three days at this year’s conference.

“Last year we had people from almost every state; we had 48 states represented, and nine countries and not only do we look to attract those who have captives in Vermont, but we’ve really built this conference to be open to all in the [captive] industry. Over the years we’ve succeeded in bringing captive owners, who are domiciled in other states and other countries, to our conference because they see the unique value of attending the event.

“The other thing we try to do is mix it up a little. So we have beginner courses, we have intermediate courses and lately even more advanced courses. One of the things we’ve realised is that we talk to people who come to our conference year in and year out, literally some for over 20 years, and their feedback is that ‘you guys do a great conference, we could really use more advanced sessions to continue our education’. These are the people who are very motivated and tend to invite others in.”

The 2016 conference will have a wide range of seminars and forums and Smith stressed the width of the topics that will be on discussion.

“This year we have 22 sessions overall and it covers the gamut from captives 101, which is a very basic beginners guide to what a captive is, to sessions such as risk analytics and what you should look for when putting a reinsurance agreement together. One of the most popular sessions is with Dave Provost, who is the chief regulator in Vermont. He is extremely knowledgeable about the industry, and he does what he calls his hot topics, where he expounds on the direction he sees the industry going and the issues t he sees on the horizon," Smith said.

“One of the session formats we’re doing this year is a mock trial, to show in action a how claims and litigation management works. That’s an advanced session, where the audience will act as a jury – it’s going to be a really engaging and fun learning experience.

“There is growing competition in the captive industry in terms of domiciles and conferences, so we have to keep it fresh. Even our Captives 101 session has been refreshed, to keep it as up to date as possible.”

The VCIA 2016 conference runs from August 9 to 11. Further details can be found on its website: http://www.vcia.com/Home/tabid/82/Default.aspx