FORTY under 40: Monica Birchmore
Monica Birchmore, Account executive, Hylant Global Captive Solutions
Monica Birchmore has been a member of the Hylant family since June 2020. Prior to joining the Hylant team, she was with Willis Towers Watson, where she was also involved in captive management.
In her role as an account executive, Birchmore coordinates all day-to-day operations for a slate of clients with various captive types in various industries and in multiple domiciles. She is deeply involved in the financial statement preparation process, coordinating annual actuarial reserve studies and audits, preparing for and participating in board meetings, liaising with domicile regulators, and being involved in strategic planning for captive growth.
Also in her role, she mentors and educates team members who are new to the captive insurance industry to foster growth within the team. She is a CPA and holds an ACI designation and is involved in CICA’s Amplify Women initiative as well as VCIA’s Vermont Captive Insurance Emerging Leaders. This year she will be serving on VCIA’s conference committee as a session coordinator.
How did you become involved in captive insurance?
Completely by chance and in the most Vermont way! As a junior in college, I was on a plane to find warmer weather during spring break and sat next to a woman who worked in the industry. We talked during the flight about captive insurance and my college career and exchanged information at the end of the flight.
Soon after, I joined that company for an internship and seamlessly entered the captive insurance industry full-time upon graduating.
What are the biggest challenges of working in this industry, and what do you find most rewarding?
My answer for the most challenging and the most rewarding is the same: how fluid the captive insurance industry is. Captives are constantly changing and proactively addressing clients’ risk management needs can be challenging to find new solutions for emerging problems, but also extremely rewarding. It’s a great feeling when we can be a part of navigating and addressing new and existing, but challenging, issues.
Would you recommend the captive insurance industry to young people as a future career path?
I would encourage young professionals to get involved and reach out. In my experience, this industry is extremely welcoming and seasoned professionals within the industry are more than willing to be a resource for those thinking about choosing captive insurance as a career path.
Initiatives such as CICA’s NEXTGen and VCIA’s Vermont Captive Insurance Emerging Leaders are focused on welcoming and educating young professionals in this space.
“Seasoned professionals within the industry are more than willing to be a resource for those thinking about choosing captive insurance as a career.”
What developments do you see ahead for captives?
I foresee continued growth for existing captives and increased involvement from companies that do not yet utilise captives as a risk management strategy. Risk management is ever-changing, and captives are a great solution for companies to quickly address those risks rather than waiting for the commercial markets to react.
Do you think your long-term future remains in the captives market?
I can’t imagine myself in another industry. I genuinely enjoy all of the people I work with within Hylant and the entire industry and get great satisfaction from playing an important role in all of my clients’ overall risk management strategies.
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