College of Business to form student-run captive

The Butler University College of Business, a university in Indianapolis, Indiana, is set to establish a student-run captive insurance company.

A gift of $250,000 has been given to the institution by risk management firm MJ Insurance and Michael Bill to finance the company. It is hoped the captive will be fully operational by the 2019-2020 academic year.

The firm will insure certain programmes at Butler, including its live mascot, Butler Blue III, an English bulldog that is the university’s official mascot, and damage to university vehicles.

Students will look at risks facing the university, assess their potential financial impacts and determine whether to use traditional insurance markets or a captive insurance company to resolve the situation.

They will also learn coverage terms, how to finance the company and how to write an insurance policy.

The idea behind the internal insurance company is to give students hands-on experience into the industry, which need to attract more young recruits, according to Steve Standifird , College of Business Dean.

Zach Finn, clinical professor and director of the Davey Risk Management and Insurance Program in the College of Business, who will supervise the students, said: “This captive insurance company builds on Butler’s model of experiential learning.

“We have students who manage a $2 million financial endowment, and many universities around the country do that. There’s no reason students with the proper setup couldn’t manage an insurance company.”

Jon Loftin, president and chief operating officer, MJ Insurance, said: “We are excited about this partnership with Butler University and the Davey Program. Butler has consistently graduated students from the College of Business more prepared to enter the workforce due in large part to their emphasis on experiential learning and providing their students with the unique opportunity to apply the academic principles in a real-life setting.”