Texas strengthens captive oversight with new appointment

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has announced the announces the hiring of a new captive insurance specialist.

Robert Rudnai has been appointed with immediate effect to licence and monitor Texas-based captives and alert businesses to the potential of starting a captive. He worked for the TDI previously and returns after working in the general insurance market.

In 2013, the Legislature passed a measure allowing pure captives and requiring TDI to license them. At that time, Rudnai was among a handful of TDI financial analysts providing oversight to captives. He evaluated captive insurance license applications, met with prospective captive applicants, and developed relationships with captive service providers.

“I have been learning about and providing regulatory information to captives from the get-go,” Rudnai said. “The challenge now is to do so as efficiently, consistently, and predictably as possible. And TDI is prepared for more growth.”

Texas state lawmakers this year directed TDI to employ a specialist to support captive insurance oversight and related activities in Texas, which has 76 state-domiciled captives and ranks high in total premium volume from captives.

Rudnai, who will address the Texas Captive Insurance Association this month, said: “There’s an opportunity now to use the experience and operational knowledge gained over the last decade to evaluate and refine processes and procedures. This starts by my listening to our stakeholders and considering their perspectives.”