Unlocking the full potential of INEDs

Captive boards need to make sure that they get the most out of their independent non-executive directors (INEDs), according to an exclusive survey carried out by Captive International and the European Captive Insurance and Reinsurance Owner's Association (ECIROA).

According to the results of our poll, which was unveiled by ECIROA at a presentation at the European Captive Forum in Luxembourg today, most captive owners (70.6% of respondents) believe that they are getting unbiassed advice from their INEDs and that the captive market as a whole is highly professionalised and is confident in the advice that they receive.

However, the poll also showed that whilst INED penetration on boards is high, their skills are not always fully in use, with a slight majority of respondents (53.3%) saying that INEDs do not sit on any board committees. In addition, most INEDs were invited to join a board for regulatory or compliance reasons.

The poll also highlighted the fact that INED assessment procedures could be improved upon. 10% of respondents said that they never assess the performance of their INEDs, 6.7% said that they did so every three years, 40% said that they did it every year and just 20% said that their INED assessment was continuous.

Asked if they would hire an INED if there was a specific certification for captive INEDs, 77.4% said they would.

The full details of the Captive International / ECIROA survey will be published in an upcoming white paper on the Captive International website.