SCCIA Names LeFever Exec. Director

He said he also has a regulatory background as deputy chief and cabinet secretary of staff for former Governor Jim Hodges, who left office in January. In the position of cabinet secretary, he said he was responsible for the Department of Insurance.

Mr. LeFever, who officially started his tenure April 1, will be working out of an office in Columbia.

SCCIA, he said, "has a bright future" that is "linked hand-in-hand with the captive insurance industry in South Carolina. That's why we are working so closely with the Department of Insurance."

The association and its members can "mutually benefit by working to help strengthen the industry and to make sure that the professional resources and expertise are available in South Carolina for those companies who want to domicile or re-domesticate to South Carolina," he added.

The association's annual conference, he said, has grown quickly with more than 200 attendees last year. The goal for this year's conference, SCCIA's fourth, is 300 attendees, he said.

Members are currently being surveyed about topics for the conference, which takes place in Charleston in December, he said.

"Certainly we will want Mr. Csiszar to come back," he said, referring to Ernie Csiszar, South Carolina's insurance director]. "We may do something with the economy here in South Carolina," he added.

Mr. LeFever added that SCCIA has begun a series of free educational forums "that we are starting to move around the state to try to get businesses and associations and other professionals within South Carolina more educated about captives."

The first seminar, he said, took place in Greenville, S.C., on April 30. "We were looking for 50 and we ended up with almost 100 [attendees]," he said. "So there is a lot of interest."

"All in all," he said, attendees "were very positive and enthusiastic. It was beyond our expectations."

He said attendees were from the local chamber of commerce, representatives of employers, and service providers as well as attorneys, accounting firms and actuaries who, "though they have not been in the captive business, see an opportunity." The next forum is scheduled for June 26, he said.

Most of the attendees, he said, were new to captives and wanted to know about the types of companies that generally form captives as well as the costs and process involved.

"They also had questions about capitalization issues and legitimacy," he said. "People are somewhat suspect when they hear about offshore companies. These are the kinds of myths you have to dispel."

He said SCCIA plans to eventually hold seminars in major business centers in the United States such as Dallas, Chicago and New York.

James A. Kinder, SCCIA president, said in a statement, "We are very excited about Mike joining our team and putting his statewide expertise to work on behalf of our members."

He continued that Mr. LeFever is "a true example of executive acumen as he has been appointed to high level state government roles in administrations of both political parties."

SCCIA was formed soon after South Carolina became a captive insurance domicile in 2000. South Carolina now has 42 captives, Mr. LeFever said.

Like the domicile, SCCIA has experienced a dramatic growth in membership and attendance at annual events including the educational conference and membership meeting held each December in Charleston.

SCCIA is headquartered in the Greenville-Spartanburg area with an additional new office in Columbia.