Ascend launched by Captive Coalition
Captive Coalition has announced the launch of Ascend, a new captive insurance program built exclusively for independent agents and fuelled by a team of captive insurance veterans.
With Ascot Insurance Company and Ascot Specialty Insurance Company as the fronting issuing carriers, Ascend gives appointed agents access to a captive solution along with the education, strategy, and sales training needed to serve their most valuable clients with confidence.
According to the company independent agents have shown growing interest in captive insurance as a way to retain premium clients and offer more sophisticated risk solutions. But until now, there has been no clear, structured path for agents to learn the captive landscape, let alone access a program designed with their interests in mind.
“As a former independent agent, I learned captives the hard way,” said Warren Cleveland, founder of Captive Coalition. “I lost a $300,000 client, a client I had spent years with on the renewal hamster wheel. The truth is, I didn't take captives seriously. I wasn't educated. I wasn't prepared to have that conversation. After that loss, I had to suffer first, then scratch and claw to figure it out on my own. I built Captive Coalition and assembled a team of captive insurance veterans so agents don't have to go through that. Appointed agents get real education, real strategy, and real access to a captive. Not just information, but the tools to actually have confident conversations with clients.”
Captive Coalition claims that it is built on transparency, both in costs and process. The program provides agents with resources specifically developed to help them communicate with clients and navigate each step, from initial conversation through implementation.
The company operates under five non-negotiable rules designed to protect agent relationships:
• Captive Coalition works exclusively with independent agents
• Surprise broker-of-record transfers are never accepted
• All clients must be represented by an independent agent
• Captive Coalition never competes with agents for business
• It is always the agent's client
For agency owners, Captive Coalition offers a place to turn for objective information, helping their agents and their agency learn more and do more with captives.
“Captive Coalition's combination of education and hands-on captive experience is a powerful model,” said Mark Benz, executive VP, head of alternative risk solutions, Ascot Group US. “When agents are supported and taught – not just given access to captives – they can become more confident, and in turn, can provide better options to their clients. And confident agents give their clients better options. We're proud to partner with a program that puts that philosophy into practice.”
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