The Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) and the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) have announced conferences for fall 2021. The two conferences will be among the first captive conferences with a national attendance to held in-person since the coronavirus pandemic abruptly halted most events in March 2020. CICA will be holding its Fall Forum from October 10 to 13, 2021, …
More Risk Retention Groups Carrying Ratings in 2021
More risk retention groups are carrying ratings from A.M. Best or Demotech, Inc. as of July 2021 than were carrying ratings in July 2020. The number of risk retention groups carrying an A.M. Best rating held steady at 41, while the number of risk retention group carrying a Demotech rating increased from 24 to 29. Two risk retention groups—Attorneys’ Liability …
Hard Market Drives Strong RRG Premium Growth in 2020
Risk retention groups reported strong premium growth of 7.1% in 2020 that took collective RRG premium to $3827.8 million. 2020 marks the tenth consecutive year of premium growth for the risk retention group industry and is one of the strongest years of premium growth since 2006, falling just behind the premium growth of 8.3% reported in 2019. Overall, 137 risk …
NFP Captives Unit Sees Growth in the Hardening Market
A new entrant in the alternative risk space, insurance broker NFP Corp., sees lots of potential for growth in captives and risk retention groups as segments of the market harden, according to Jonathan McKenzie, vice president of NFP’s Risk & Insurance Strategy Collective (RISC). Parent company NFP sees alternative risk “as a component of their continued growth in 2021 and …
Are RRGs Due for a Rebound?
By Jon Harkavy, Of Counsel, Risk Services Attempting to speculate as to current trends and future of RRGs in 2021 is no easy task. The usual market barometers involved; premium volume and the number of RRGs formed, have been skewed by the pandemic and are not particularly useful for any predicative market analysis. RRG premium continued to grow in 2020, …
Vermont Captive Insurance at 40: A Look Back at the History and the People
Vermont is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a captive domicile this year. The Risk Retention Reporter spoke with captive managers and regulators to trace the history of Vermont as a captive domicile, from the years leading up to the passage of Special Insurer Act of 1981 to the emergence of risk retention groups in 1987 through to the work being …
Spurred by A.M. Best, STICO Successfully Expands Membership
In 2018, Vermont-domiciled STICO Mutual Insurance Company Ins. Co. Risk Retention Group (STICO) saw its outlook from A.M. Best downgraded to negative. STICO’s A.M Best rating is a critical component of the RRG’s operation, as many of its members require A-rated paper. According to STICO President Colin Donovan, A.M. Best had told him that “we want to see our A-rated …
RRG Show Strong 2020 Financials According to Demotech Report
Demotech, Inc. recently published its Analysis of Risk Retention Groups—Year End 2020. The report finds that risk retention groups continue to report strong financials, with strong gains in assets and policyholder’s surplus. According to the report, risk retention groups also reported premium growth of 6.4% that took premium for the risk retention group industry to $3.8 billion. The Risk Retention …
Longtime Vermont Regulator Len Crouse Passes Away
Vermont’s second Director of Captive Insurance Leonard “Len” Crouse passed away on May 6, 2021. Crouse led the Vermont Captive Division from 1990 to 2008. “Timing plays a big part in any successful venture, and Len was the right guy at the right time,” said Deputy Commissioner, Captive Insurance at State of Vermont David Provost. “He had the right combination …
Management and Regulators Contribute to Spirit Commercial RRG’s Mounting Troubles
Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint of an investigative report that ran in the February 2019 issue of the Risk Retention Reporter. In April 2021, liquidation proceedings involving Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group were appealed to the Nevada Court. This article was cited in the Writ of Mandamus filed by Nevada Commissioner of Insurance Barbara Richardson. Given that, …