SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.--The Captive Insurance Companies Association(CICA) elected Mike Lusk, a pioneer in benefits captives, as boardchairman during its 36th International Conference here.

Mr. Lusk, corporate vice president, Insurance and Global RiskManagement for Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), headquarteredin Decatur, Ill., was instrumental in spearheading the use of acaptive operation to write employee benefits.

ADM in 2003 was the second employer approved for an employeebenefits captive by the Department of Labor.

The ADM captive differed from the first benefits captive to winapproval, Columbia Energy, because ADM proposed that its captive beused to reinsure life insurance benefits rather than the disabilityapproved by the DOL for Columbia Energy (NU 3/17/03).

"Mike Lusk is highly regarded in the risk management communityand especially well known for his innovative use of a captiveinsurance company at ADM to provide employee benefit coverage,"commented Dennis Harwick, president of CICA.

Mr. Lusk, with 35 years of experience in the insurance and riskmanagement industry, began his career by performing inspections andproviding underwriting for high hazard plants in chemical andpetrochemical industries. Before joining ADM in 1999, he workedwith International Risk Management (Americas) Inc., a riskmanagement consulting firm.

The CICA board also elected Claude Parenteau, president ofParenteau Associates, Easton, Conn., as vice chairman, and KarinLandry, managing partner of Spring Consulting Group, LLC, ofBoston, Mass., as secretary-treasurer.

CICA is an international association for the captive insuranceindustry, founded in 1972 by professional risk managers. CICArepresents hundreds of captive insurance companies, risk retentiongroups and related organizations from more than 30 jurisdictionsthroughout the world.