A key reason behind the launch of independent captive management firm Helio was the large market for captive business in the middle of the United States, where there is limited choice for captive owners in the region.
Captive Intelligence reported the launch of Helio in March 2023, when experienced captive operator Heather McClure was appointed general counsel and chief risk officer.
“What I saw was an underserved community here in Oklahoma specifically,” Blake Kerr, Helio CEO, told Captive Intelligence.
The firm is managing captives in multiple domiciles and working with businesses across the country.
Kerr said captives based in the region were previously being served by offices on either coast, and as a result, Helio wanted to provide a more robust captive manager option.
Kerr said that since its launch, Helio has experienced a growing pipeline of new business, largely due to the hardening commercial market.
“I don’t really believe much in luck, but there could not be a better time to launch a captive management and risk consulting firm than now,” Kerr added. “The phone has been ringing non-stop.”
Jesse Olsen joined Helio as chief operating officer in December and said the types of captives he is seeing has become increasingly broad.
“We have irons in the fire right now on association captives, agency captives, and pure captives, for example,” he said.
Olsen revealed that Helio has established captives in multiple states over the past few months, including Oklahoma and Tennessee.
“That said, we remain domicile agnostic, and we are going to go where the clients want to be and what makes the most sense for them. We objectively help them with that selection process.”
Olsen said there has been interest from faith based and non-profit organisations, as well as healthcare which has been aided by McClure’s extensive experience in that sector.
“With Heather having that healthcare background and the network that she does, there’s a lot of interest in domiciles that are far afield from where we are physically located,” he said.
Earlier this month, Captive Intelligence published a long-read highlighting that companies seeking property coverage will continue to be the driving force behind captive formations in the US in 2024.
Olsen said property has always been one of the most popular coverage lines for captives.
“However, five years ago they were very targeted property placements, whereas now it is much broader.”
“Captive owners are looking at all other perils, wind and hail deductible buy downs, other natural catastrophe type coverages and participating on those risks in a way that we were not seeing captives do previously.”