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Fluid Truck forms DC captive for auto covers

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Fluid Truck, an American commercial vehicle truck rental company, has established a single parent captive in Washington DC, in preparation for its April insurance renewals.

Fluid Truck makes it easy to rent commercial vehicles 24/7 and currently operates in 400 cities in the U.S. It offers trucks, vans and electric vehicles to more than 100,000 users on its platform.

Captive Intelligence understands Nereus Insurance Co Inc received regulatory approval earlier this week and will be managed by WTW.



Fluid Truck appointed Courtney Claflin as its head of insurance in May 2022, after he had spent seven years at the University of California as executive director of captive insurance programs.

Claflin was hired partly for his experience in building and growing captive insurance companies.

The captive will begin by writing auto liability, commercial auto physical damage (APD) and excess.

Milliman has been appointed as actuaries working on the captive programmes.

Captive growth a “great endorsement” for Guernsey

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Guernsey licensed 12 new captives in 2022, taking it to 201 in total at year-end and ahead of Luxembourg in terms of active captives.

Captive Intelligence is collecting domicile data as it is reported by domiciles around the world and you can view it here.

New captives licensed in Guernsey during 2022 included THG Insurance Limited, a single parent captive owned by THG Plc and managed by Aon, Yancoal Insurance Company Limited, owned by mining company Yancoal Australia, and Sky Summit Insurance Limited.

Guernsey now has more captives than Luxembourg (195), while Isle of Man now has 98 and Ireland 66 active captives.

“This is a great endorsement of Guernsey’s captive offering, coming soon after our 100 years of captives anniversary celebrations,” said Mark Elliott, Chair of the Guernsey International Insurance Association (GIIA).

“We have a high quality, experienced captive infrastructure with leading service providers and a pragmatic and robust regulator which is what sets us apart. We look forward to continuing to innovate and promote the captive proposition to existing and new clients going forwards.”

Rupert Pleasant, chief executive of We Are Guernsey, said: “It is testament to the quality and experience of our practitioners. Guernsey is a is globally renowned centre for specialist financial services, a jurisdiction of substance and it is gratifying to reach this milestone.”

Captives enhance options for renewable energy players

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There are a multitude or reasons why companies are looking to use captives in the renewables space, according to Emma Sansom, group head of captives at Zurich Commercial.

“It varies depending on the captive owner’s strategic ambitions and the objectives of the captive,” Sansom said.

“For some captive owners, the captive(s) are well established, well capitalised entities that provide strategically important risk financing able to retain substantial insurance capacity, and in some cases the captive will look to retain significant portions of the parent groups exposures.”

Sansom highlighted certain companies will set up captives to fill gaps in existing capacity that currently exist in the renewables class, as well as to access wider coverage from the reinsurance market through higher attachment points above the captive’s retentions.

“Or provide cover to the parent at rates that aren’t impacted by the poor loss experience of others in the market,” added said.

Renewables companies will also be able to finance and diversify a portfolio of heterogenous risks through the utilisation of their captive.

In certain cases, the captive may be used a vehicle to provide bespoke wordings that are not available in the current renewables market or incubate risks relating to emerging technology.

Sansom added that the reinsurance landscape for captives is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

“[It is] providing specific facultative reinsurance, traditional towers of reinsurance provided by a panel of reinsurers, or cross class reinsurance structures including structured reinsurance, above the captive’s retained exposure, typically through a blend of some or all of these mechanisms,” she said.

“The value that a fronting insurer such as Zurich can add to this aside from access to extensive underwriting experience largely comes from our deep knowledge of the local markets, our ability to handle claims locally, and administrate premium flows and claims to and from the captive.”

Captive Intelligence published a long read last week on the use of captives in the renewables market, in which Michael Kolonder, global renewable energy & US power leader at Marsh, highlighted the “hyper specialisation” of the renewables market.

“The property market is segmented and specialised, and renewables can be a hyper specialisation within the broader space, or it can be just another asset,” Kolodner said.

In all cases, Sansom noted the captive ultimately acts as an enabler for businesses to develop and deploy innovative technology “by providing oversight and control, and providing protection when risks materialise”.

Guernsey launches certificate & diploma in international insurance management

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A new, updated course in international insurance management has been launched in Guernsey, which builds upon the legacy created by the late John Parkinson’s textbook on captive management.

“Back in 2000, we put a course together with the Guernsey International Insurance Association (GIIA), and with assistance from Glasgow Caledonian University,” said Nick Wild, founding member and honorary secretary of Sagacious Group.

“And that course ran for about a 10-year period, and quite a number of people went through it.”

Wild explained that the course then ran fallow for about a 10-year period, but during the pandemic he decided it should be revived.

“I thought what should I be doing with some of my time? Wouldn’t it be great to try and reinvigorate that course?”

The updated course material was written by members of the Sagacious Group (alumni of the local Guernsey insurance industry) and administered by GTA University Centre and owned by GIIA.

Wild explained that they got permission from John Parkinson’s family to use his text as a base for creating the new course.

“We took his book as a foundation for creating a new course, but we’ve expanded that considerably,” Wild said.

“Practices have changed significantly, the laws changed, the regulation has changed, but also Guernsey’s international insurance sector has diversified quite significantly over that 22 year period.”

The new course entails 75 hours of self-learning (supported by mentors) followed by a multiple-choice exam. Successful students can then submit a dissertation to achieve the diploma.

GIIA has also made the course material available at no cost on its website.

Wild highlighted that about 85% of the new course will be about captives, “because that’s the biggest piece of our international insurance business”, but it also covers topics such as ILS, Pension Longevity Hedging and MGA’s all of which is now conducted in Guernsey.

He said that the course is ultimately about making sure people are better informed about the business they’re conducting on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s both a useful reference manual as well as providing the course material behind which sits an exam,” he said.

Lockton’s Mark Morris strengthens SRS’ advisory offering

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Strategic Risk Solutions (SRS) has appointed Mark Morris as a managing director within the SRS advisers group.

Morris is regarded as a senior captive and risk financing consultant within the captive industry.

He joins SRS from Lockton Companies, where he spent more than 20 years working with clients to structure programs on the most efficient economic basis, considering tax, cash flow, collateral, and accounting considerations.

“I am very excited to be joining the exceptional team at SRS,” Morris said.

“It was an easy decision in the end as I have long admired Brady Young, Michael O’Malley and the global captive management and consulting team they have assembled.”

He joins the SRS advisers team led by SVP Michael O’Malley.

In his new role, he will cultivate new and existing relationships through reviewing current structures and determining any available risk transfer and risk financing mechanisms to meet the SRS clients’ economic, financial, and operational objectives.

“As a broker within the industry for this long, Mark’s experience and reputation will fit right in at SRS,” said O’Malley. “We’re looking forward to working with Mark to continue providing new and innovative captive solutions for our clients.”

RiverStone utilises Guernsey ICC for $305m collateralised reinsurance

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Legacy specialists RiverStone International has used a Guernsey incorporated cell to secure  multi-year excess of loss reinsurance cover to support a series of Lloyd’s transactions.

Xenon IC Limited has been established within White Rock Insurance (Guernsey) ICC Limited, owned and managed by Aon, with financing of the deal led by JP Morgan.

The deal follows that executed by Lloyd’s itself to secure five-year reinsurance cover for its Central Fund in 2021, also utilising White Rock Insurance (Guernsey) ICC Limited.

The transactions are further evidence that cell companies, and Guernsey incorporated cell structures in particular, are becoming increasingly mainstream, trusted vehicles for a variety of reinsurance deals.

Incorporated cells have also been used for huge pension longevity swap transactions, with the BT pension scheme executing a £16bn deal through a Guernsey ICC in 2014. Several similar transactions have been completed since using Guernsey incorporated cells.

“We are delighted to have completed this significant reinsurance placement which demonstrates our strong focus on maintaining a highly efficient and flexible capital structure in support of our legacy solution offerings,” said Andy Creed, RiverStone International CFO.

RiverStone said the deal “provides a fully collateralised layer of reinsurance supporting RiverStone International’s Funds at Lloyd’s, and has the ability to grow or shrink in line with the future underwriting activity of RiverStone Syndicate 3500”.

Creed added: “Aon’s engagement and creativity combined with the support and commitment from one of the world’s largest investment banks, JP Morgan is testament to RiverStone International’s leading market presence in the legacy sector

“The product supports the ongoing growth of our syndicate, strengthens security for our customers, and enables us to continue to deliver effective legacy solutions to our Lloyd’s clients.

“In conjunction with the new reinsurance, we have also extended the funding provided by other third-party capital providers, who continue to provide strong support to our growing business. Our capital management and funding position is now more resilient than ever.”

RiverStone said the deal “provides a fully collateralised layer of reinsurance supporting RiverStone International’s Funds at Lloyd’s, and has the ability to grow or shrink in line with the future underwriting activity of RiverStone Syndicate 3500”.

Holman acquires Park Wood Managers, rebrands trucking RRG

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Holman, a global automotive services organisation, has acquired commercial trucking fleet insurance provider, Park Wood Managers.

Holman’s insurance services division includes alternative risk and captive solutions and is led by former USA Risk principal Rob Bartholomew.

The family-owned business also becomes the programme manager of the Park Wood Risk Retention Group (RRG), which will be rebranded as Holman Transportation Risk Retention Group.

“This acquisition is poised to be an integral element of our long-term strategy for sustained growth and allows us to leverage Holman’s extraordinary financial stability to provide comprehensive risk mitigation solutions for fleet operators in this segment of the industry,” said Bartholomew.

“As a result of this acquisition, we’re now positioned to combine our extensive insurance and risk mitigation capabilities with Holman’s unsurpassed fleet management expertise to offer fleet operators a seamless, all-inclusive solution for protecting their vehicles, their people, and their business while also controlling their total cost of ownership.”

Holman said the acquisition enables it to provide comprehensive automotive insurance coverage and commercial risk mitigation services for the entire range of commercial fleet vehicles, regardless of fleet size, industry, or asset type.

Headquartered in New Jersey, Holman is one of the largest family-owned automotive service organizations in North America with more than 6,500 employees across North America, the UK, and Germany.

CRI adds $500m to group captive book in 2022

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Group captive experts Captive Resources added more than $500m in new premium to its portfolio in 2022, with some members now contributing up to $35m in annual premium.

There are nearly 6,000 members of the various group captives CRI consults on today, and Nick Hentges, CEO of CRI, spoke exclusively to Captive Intelligence in a wide ranging interview for GCP #79.

Hentges discussed CRI’s performance in 2022, its ambitions for further expansion into medical stop loss and why he believes group captives more than hold their own as an alternative to single parent captives in some instances.

The largest group captive the firm consults on is Affinity Insurance Ltd, first established in 1995, which has around 470 members and $407m in annual premium.

“It is really the size of some fairly sizable insurance companies,” Hentges said.

The CEO is passionate about the rationale of continuing to grow existing group captives and the advantages that scale can bring.

“In a big programme, a sizable programme, you really do have leverage in the marketplace, and that gives the members of that captive control to get consistency and predictability in what their insurance programme is going to be as they move forward,” he explained.

“It does give buying power. We negotiate from a position of strength rather than hoping that our partners are going to do well by us.”

When programmes surpass more than 200 members, CRI discusses with the captive’s board of directors what the appetite is and whether a second vehicle should be established, utilising the same broker network, to continue the growth.

CRI often refers to the strategy as a “parent-child relationship”, although there is no formal relationship between the two programmes – the established “parent” has no ownership or control over the new “child”.

“What we’ll do with the parent is raise the minimum premium, so we’re going after larger accounts now,” Hentges said.

“They may tighten the type of account that they’re looking for in that parent programme, and then we will open up the second programme.”

He highlighted how this strategy had worked successfully with Presidio Insurance, Ltd, a heterogeneous group captive, which had reached 200 members.

Fortis Insurance (Cayman), Ltd, the so-called ‘child’ of Presidio, was formed in 2016 and has since grown to 190 members itself. Presidio is now at 385 members, so it too, has continued to grow while incorporating the slightly different strategy.

“We are now starting to talk about the grandchild of Presidio, the child of Fortis, so we have a way of controlling the growth in those programmes,” Hentges added.

MSL and larger accounts

Captive Intelligence has previously reported that Captive Resources has been targeting the medical stop loss market over the past decade as businesses struggle to handle the growing cost of health insurance premiums, with self-insurance structures proving an effective strategy. In more recent years, that focus has intensified.

In November 2022 Joseph Parrilli, senior vice president at CRI, told the Global Captive Podcast that there are now more than 200 members of the medical stop loss captives the firm consults on.

“We think medical stop loss is going to be a huge area of growth,” Hentges added.

“We went from having three employees to, I think, we’re 30 or 35 employees now on the medical stop loss side. We’re going to be big in that space.”

The group captive strategy is also becoming increasingly appealing for larger companies, with Olympus Insurance Ltd. being established for members paying more than $5m in premium.

The largest individual member in the group captives that CRI supports is $35m in annual premium.

Rate and capacity challenges prompt captive consideration for renewables


  • Oil and Gas majors benefit from long established, well capitalised captives
  • New entrants struggle for affordable capacity in the commercial market
  • Captives can play vital role, but formations can be challenging for startups

Captive utilisation in the renewables market can provide companies with the ability to counter increasing rates and allow greater access to capacity, sources have told Captive Intelligence.

Rates in the commercial market for renewables have proliferated in recent years, though the market is highly fragmented, and pricing can vary substantially.

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MAXIS appoints Lorraine Fernandes chief legal officer

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MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN), the international employee benefits joint venture between MetLife and AXA, has appointed Lorraine Fernandes as chief legal officer.

Fernandes’ new role will take effect from 1 April, subject to regulatory checks. Fernandes will sit on the MAXIS GBN Executive Committee (ExCom).

“I’m delighted to be taking on this new role and to be joining the ExCom at MAXIS,” she said.

“This is a great opportunity for me to build on the strong relationships I have with my colleagues, our network partners and our multinational clients around the world. I’m looking forward to helping MAXIS continue to go from strength to strength.”

Fernandes started her career at Ince & Co LLP in 2005, where she spent 12 years in private practice before joining MAXIS GBN in 2018 and becoming director of legal in 2019.

MAXIS works in partnership with more than 250 multinational clients to provide employee benefits risk management services and solutions.

With approximately 140 local insurance partners with specialist capabilities in more than 120 markets, MAXIS GBN’s local insurers currently cover over 3.2 million employees worldwide.

Federico Morosi, chief technical & financial officer at MAXIS GBN, said: “The Legal team, under Lorraine’s leadership, plays a significant role in the smooth running of MAXIS’ business, so it’s great to have her join our ExCom.

“I would like to thank Lorraine for all her for all her work as director of legal – I’m confident that she will be an asset to our ExCom.”