Towle: CICA sees ‘exciting times’ ahead

The captive market has “exciting times” ahead of it, according to Dan Towle, president of the Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA), as he spoke to attendees at CICA’s 2023 annual conference at Palm Springs, California.

In his keynote speech he said that this year’s conference has seen attendance return to close to pre-COVID-19 levels, with a record number of first-time attendees.

This year’s event was in stark contrast to the last time that CICA had been in Palm Springs in March 2020, he said. In 2020, CICA’s board had been forced to assemble unexpectedly to discuss cancelling the annual conference, which was scheduled for later that month. The relatively last minute meeting was needed as the pandemic was developing into a national emergency.

Towle pointed out that the pandemic has highlighted the drawbacks of the general insurance industry for dealing with areas such as business interruption coverage. This resulted in a perfect storm for the captive industry as interest in it increased as shortfalls in other forms of insurance grew.

The work of the industry continues in terms of educating state officials and regulators, he said. But he was pleased by a recent request for advice on  pandemic related issues from the Government Accountability Office, calling it a high point for the association and the wider captive industry.

Towle also announced that CICA was increasing its support for the International Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE) by 25 percent. ICCIE will announce its 650th graduate shortly and is predicted to reach 700 graduates in 2023.