There’s no place like home
Tennessee’s captive insurance division’s focus is on providing good, reliable regulation, and world-class customer service, says Carter Lawrence of the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance.
"We have an outstanding network of service providers in Tennessee who have all contributed greatly to the success of the state." Carter Lawrence
In a world of constant change, disruption, and uncertainty, it’s crucial for your peace of mind to have some place to call home.
In Tennessee, our focus on responsible regulation, our modern captive insurance statute, and our roster of seasoned professionals have allowed us to provide stability to captive domicile managers that they might not find elsewhere.
That reliability is becoming more and more important as the insurance market undergoes seismic shifts. Today, companies large and small are learning how they must adapt to the emerging technological advances created by artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, and cyber attacks while global factors such as macroeconomics, regional instabilities, and severe catastrophic weather events are creating momentous changes in the insurance industry that have contributed greatly to the hardening market.
As many are learning, captive insurance is a valuable tool that can help mitigate costs of traditional risks such as property and casualty, liability, or non-traditional risks such as cyber risks, credit risks, and environmental liability, among others.
In Tennessee we have experience with creating an environment that’s conducive to captive insurance. Since 1978, Tennessee has extended a warm welcome to all captive managers. As one of the first states with legislation that enables the creation of captive insurance domiciles, Tennessee is now a first-in-class destination for captive insurance managers. If you haven’t visited us yet, I encourage each of you to come and see all the great things that are happening here for yourself and meet our team in person.
Steady growth
Our numbers bear out the Volunteer State’s success in attracting captive insurance managers. By the end of December 2023, we licensed 25 new captives and 66 new cells—and that was not even our final tally. We begin 2024 in Tennessee with an active count of 162 captives and 533 cells before adding to and finalising our full growth in 2023.
After major modernisation to our captive insurance statutes in 2011 Tennessee has seen steady and significant growth in the captives market. In the most recent few years, we’ve seen a 37 percent increase in overall risk-bearing entities, bringing our total count to 690 and rising. This rise in regulated entities has increased our premium volume by 40 percent. This growth is in the private sector as well. We have an outstanding network of service providers in Tennessee who have all contributed greatly to the success of the state as a domicile. More captive owners are choosing Tennessee as a result.
Why are so many choosing Tennessee to establish a domicile or relocate here?
Aside from our central location, amenities, and world-class cities, our captive insurance team members pride themselves on being responsive, modern, and attentive to the needs of captive managers and owners. Led by Captive Insurance Section director Mark Wiedeman, our team of 15 are accomplished and award-winning with decades of collective experience. Their focus is on providing good, reliable regulation, but more importantly, world-class customer service. They are responsive and knowledgeable.
Most of the team come to us as certified public accountants and all are graduates of the Associate of Captive Insurance programme administered by the International Center for Captive Insurance Education. Our department is just one piece of a larger team that includes the support of Governor Bill Lee and members of the Tennessee General Assembly who are working to ensure Tennessee’s economy remains vibrant and healthy. We think your domicile should call Tennessee home.
To find out more visit: www.tn.gov/commerce/insurance/captive-insurance.html
Carter Lawrence is the commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance. He can be contacted at: carter.lawrence@tn.gov
