Top prize in CICA essay contest 2023 announced

The Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) has announced the winner of its essay contest for college risk management and insurance students.

The 2023 essay contest, which is in its fifth year, focused on ‘Captive Insurance Solutions for Today’s Risk Management Challenges’ and was sponsored by Hylant Global Captive Solutions (Hylant GCS).

The three finalist teams were announced in January, but the final order was only revealed on the opening day of CICA’s 2023 annual conference in Palm Springs, California, in March.

First prize went to Olivia Faulkner and Zane Smith from Saint Mary’s University who collected $2,500 for their essay. They had proposed a group captive to help restaurant franchisees manage risks and expenses.

In second place was Carter Cappon and Chase Mendham from Olivet College, who won a $1,500 prize and third place went to Ting-Wei Liu and Nachapol Charamornburapong at Temple University.

The essay contest required teams of two-people to describe how and why a captive insurance company could be used as a cost-effective means of alternative risk financing for new and growing risk challenges.

Once the finalists had been picked, the three teams worked with mentors from Hylant GCS to revise and enhance their essays. These written essays were then judged again to determine first, second and third prizes.

“It is great to see the students bring their creativity and problem-solving to real-world situations while also getting a taste of what it might be like to work in the captive insurance industry. Once they dig into their case studies they learn captive insurance is a growing industry that provides challenging problems and opportunities to create innovative solutions,” said CICA President Dan Towle.