Gabriele Frea, head of insurance and risk financing at Enel Group, the owner of Italy’s first captive, believes “now the path is traced, other groups will follow”.
Enel Erre, owned by Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas, Enel, received a reinsurance licence from the Italian regulator IVASS on 21 November last year. Aon and local law firm Bonelli Erede supported the project.
Enel’s Italian captive completed the merger with its existing Netherlands-domiciled captive, Enel Insurance NV, completing the re-domestication process and being assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) by AM Best.
“Now the path is traced other groups will follow us,” said Frea, speaking on episode #99 of the Global Captive Podcast.
“Other captives will soon be set up in Italy, stimulating a more conscious approach to the risk management and the risk financing activities, especially moments of market hardening as the one we are living through today.”
He added that risk managers from other organisations have been in contact and expressed interest in forming or re-domesticating captives to Italy.
“Due to these factors, Italian captives are expected to increase significantly in the very near future,” he said.
Last month, multinational cable specialists Prysmian Group SpA received authorisation for Italy’s second captive, which it plans to merge with its existing Dublin captive.
Captive Intelligence reported in January 2023 that several Italian-owned captives had begun discussions with IVASS on the possibility of re-domesticating captives back home.
Frea said there was a long and intensive period of analysis before a decision was made regarding Enel’s Italian captive.
“We had to calculate all the pros and cons of this solution and all the opportunities and the difficulties,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, I do not believe that everyone at the time was confident that the success would be achieved.”
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Enel’s Gabriele Frea on GCP #99 here, or on any podcast app. Just search for ‘Global Captive Podcast’.