kevin-mead-president-vermont-captive-insurance-association
Kevin Mead, president, Vermont Captive Insurance Association
28 February 2023ArticleAnalysis

VCIA president Mead positive on Mexico City roadshow

Vermont is going to Mexico City, with a delegation from the state holding a roadshow in the Mexican capital on March 1.

The trade mission is a collaborative effort with the US Commercial Service, the trade and promotion arm of the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, and Vermont’s Department of Economic Development via its State Trade and Expansion Program, a program funded by the Small Business Administration.

Asked why state officials from Vermont and the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) are going to Mexico City with the roadshow, Kevin Mead, VCIA president, told Captive International that Vermont already has a number of Mexico-based multinationals and other entities that have formed captives domiciled in the state.

“Our industry contacts tell us that as the Mexican economy continues to expand, their insurance and risk management needs are growing, and becoming as complex as those in other locations,” said Mead.

“With our partners in the Department of Economic Development and the Captive Division of the Department of Financial Regulation we want to be sure that Vermont is presented as an option to entities that might seek to utilise a captive.”

Mead explained that the roadshow is very much a delayed event—the initial plan had been to go in March 2020 but then the pandemic hit, and COVID-19 forced entire regions into lockdowns. This delayed the roadshow by 36 months.

“We see Latin America as a whole, and Mexico in particular, as an underserved market,” he said. “Unlike Europe, there are few captive insurance options in the region, so Vermont’s experience in dealing with captive formations for non-US entities and the comparatively open market made Mexico a good option for our first trade mission.”

As to how much potential captive business Vermont could access in Latin America, Mead said that the roadshow participants hope to find out. In addition to the educational elements of such a roadshow, the Vermonters have multiple meetings set up with Mexican trade associations, business groups and insurance professionals. Through these meetings Mead and his colleagues hope to develop their understanding of the business climate, the risk management tools utilised and the potential for captive insurance growth.

Mead was careful to emphasise that the roadshow participants will be treating the event as a learning process themselves.

“While this is new territory for us, we understand that potential markets within Latin America are very distinct, and it would be foolish to extrapolate what we learn there on a region-wide basis,” he pointed out.

The VCIA organises two or three roadshows a year. The March 1 event in Mexico will follow a similar format of presenting a “What are captives?” session, followed by case studies from practitioners and captive owners from Mexico.

“The primary goal here is education, and to give Mexico-based business executives, insurance professionals and brokers an insight into the dynamic world of captives so that they may consider it as a potential tool for their own risk management needs,” Mead concluded.


More on this story

Analysis
30 January 2023   VCIA, Marsh and state experts to spread the word.

More on this story

Analysis
30 January 2023   VCIA, Marsh and state experts to spread the word.