Leading through innovation
One captive has achieved outsized success by making use of an innovative reinsurance structure. Christina Kindstedt of Advantage Insurance Management explains how it works.
The changing shape of captives
Fewer captives are being formed but they are more sophisticated and being created for the right reasons. Add to this a greater emphasis on risk management and talent and the industry looks in good health for the long term, says Daniel Towle of the Captive Insurance Companies Association.
Captives welcome
Many jurisdictions around the world are competing to host your captive. Choosing the right domicile ensures the optimum tax and regulatory treatment, and that the right service providers are on hand, say Lori Holford and Tania Davies of Atlas Insurance Management.
What captive managers need to know, and do, now
The FSAB’s ASU 2016-01 is now in effect. This will have a significant impact on the way any company, including most captive insurance companies, which maintains its accounting records in accordance with GAAP, will be required to comply, says Leon Rives of Rives and Associates.
When a captive flounders
Certain captives fail, but what goes wrong? And what can be done about it? Stephanie Mocatta, chief executive officer of SOBC DARAG, has some suggestions.
831(b) ground rules emerge post Syzygy
Syzygy Insurance v Commissioner may paint a negative picture of the industry, but also provides some helpful guidance on how to structure small captives, says David Kirkup, chief operating officer at Captive Alternatives.
Captives industry cannot expect to be found, it must engage with students
The demand for insurance talent is growing, which is especially true for the captive insurance industry. With baby- boomers retiring, generation X aging and millennials switching off at the mention of insurance - , where is the talent going to come from? Kathleen O’Neil Larkin, attorney and instructor at Missouri State University, says the gap between industry and academia must be bridged.
Microcaptives help facilitate ERM programmes for SMEs
An enterprise risk management micro-captive programme may not be as robust as a mega-company's ERM programme, but many of the same benefits may be achieved. Ryan Ralston, director of risk management at Elevate Captives, has the details.
Pilot v Commissioner: key questions raised and left unanswered
Just 10 days before the scheduled trial in the US Tax Court, the taxpayers conceded the remaining issues in Pilot Series of Fortress Insurance et al v Commissioner. The pretrial pleadings highlighted many of the key questions that remain open in litigation over the tax treatment of captive insurance transactions. Those questions—and the parties’ efforts to answer them—provide a roadmap of what to expect as additional cases move toward trial. Jenny Johnson Ware, founding partner of tax litigation boutique Johnson Moore, analyses those key questions and what we can learn from them—despite the fact that the Tax Court will not be providing any answers.
The path to good corporate governance
The failure of a captive can often be traced to a breakdown in quality corporate governance. Ben Whitehouse, senior counsel at Butler Snow, outlines the important attributes of good captive governance.
