New York State Acts To Rev Up Its Captive Business

By Caroline McDonald

NU Online News Service, Jan. 20, 1:48 p.m. EST?New York officials said they have ramped up efforts to expand the captive insurance business domiciled in their state, adding a new director, a new group captive and forming an association for the domicile.[@@]

New York Insurance Superintendent Gregory V. Serio recently announced the hiring of David Ahl as director of captive development under the direction of Peter Molinaro, senior deputy superintendent.

Mr. Aul's expertise in economic development, as well as his insurance background, Mr. Serio said, makes him uniquely qualified for the needs of the department's captive group?which was formed earlier this year.

Growing the domicile has been "a priority for the governor's administration," Mr. Serio told National Underwriter.

The state's first move in that direction, he noted, was the passage of the captive law in 1997. Out of that came the creation of a captive for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"Curiously enough," he said, "a government agency is using the captive statute to reconstruct their insurance program?and I would say to great benefit."

These benefits, he said, were evident in terms of dollars saved by the MTA over the last five years and its increased attention to risk management.

He added that, "as we went through disruptions in the market place, whether it was 9/11 and the hard market that followed or the loss of Reliance and Kemper, the MTA has been able to maintain a steady course of coverage as well as claims management because they held so much of the control within their own captive."

Mr. Serio continued that the success of the '97 act has allowed the domicile to aggressively pursue expanding the number of captives in New York?which began in 2003 with four captives and ended with 18 licensed entities and two applications pending.

Mr. Serio also announced CAPCO Holdings, which will offer a mechanism for 14 financial institutions to provide excess insurance for investors in case they sustain losses as a result of a bankrupt or otherwise financially troubled investment firm.

CAPCO, he said, was put together as a group captive to "cover these investment houses for their liability beyond the SIPC [Securities Investor Protection Corporation] protections provided by the federal government."

He noted that this is a marketplace that has "essentially dried up among the traditional carriers. We were gratified to be able to provide an option to the New York-based investment houses as we did and basically reform the market for that," he said.

Mr. Molinaro told NU that formation of a New York captive group is in the works. As a regulator, he said, "it's not our role to be the physical organizer, but we have used our role as facilitator with an organization that manages associations of this kind to help them with the formation of the New York Captive Insurance Association."

The company is CINN Worldwide Inc., located in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. He added that an announcement will go out "within the month. We're excited about that and have offered our offices as a location for the first meeting of the NYCIA."

Mr. Molinaro said, "We really believe that we've put together a very successful formula here in New York, and the addition of David Ahl is another step in bringing more talent and resources to the group." He said the industry has reacted favorably "to the kind of service we've given," which includes issuing a license in three-and-a-half days.

Though the department's minimum guarantee is 30 days, "if you need something done, we tell folks, because the group is separated from insurance department functions, we are able to move much faster," he said.

Mr. Molinaro said the department has had a "great deal" of response from the New York business community. "Every week we meet with potential organizers of a captive insurer to discuss New York, discuss options with them, and we're receiving calls on a daily basis," he said.

Mr. Ahl joined the department from the Empire State Development Corporation, where he was senior director of industry development. Previously he was director of industry development, responsible for business development in the insurance industry. Mr. Ahl formerly worked at the department as special assistant to the superintendent, where he worked on venture capital legislation, the department said.

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New York State Acts To Rev Up Its Captive Business

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