Vermont BISHCA Press Release: Jan 11, 2007

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2006 BRINGS ANOTHER YEAR OF STEADY GROWTH IN CAPTIVE INDUSTRY
Vermont BISHCA Press Release: Jan 11, 2007

MONTPELIER -- "Steady and sustained growth," is how Vermont officials described 2006's final tally for captive insurance as 37 new captive insurance entities were licensed, officials announced today.

That matches the number of new captives licensed in 2005 and brings the total number of captive licenses issued to 791, according to data released by the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA).

"2006 was a good year for captive activity, essentially maintaining the pace from the previous year," said Leonard Crouse, Vermont's Deputy Commissioner of Captive Insurance. "We continue to see a lot of good quality captives with steady activity across all lines."

The new captives formed include 25 pure captives, 5 sponsored, 3 new risk retention groups, 3 association captives and 1 industrial insured captive. Some of the companies in the class of 2006 include Starbucks, McGraw-Hill, Principal Financial Group, Ameren and Aegon.

"If there's some emerging trends that we're seeing it would be the expanded interest in Vermont by the so-called 'Triple X' captives and by employee benefits," said Derick White, Director of Captive Insurance. "These 'Triple X' captive facilities are providing a way for life insurers to form reinsurance captives."

Vermont has currently licensed five such programs, with more on the horizon. 2006 also saw the licensing of 5 new employee benefits captives writing both ERISA and non-ERISA benefits. Another trend that has emerged has been the continued growth in healthcare facility captives.

"Vermont now has nearly 100 programs writing over $1.4 billion in premiums in medical malpractice coverage," said Dan Towle, Director of Financial Services. "I think it's fair to say that we'll continue to see strong activity in 2007."

Interest in Vermont as a domicile was very high on several recent recruitment trips, including the World Captive Forum in Arizona. Upcoming educational seminars are scheduled in Houston, Boston and Washington, D.C.

"Vermont is proud of its reputation as the gold standard of domiciles," said Governor Jim Douglas. "We will continue to make sure that we keep pace with the changing needs of the industry."

For more information on Vermont's captive industry, visit http://vermontcaptive.com/ or call Dan Towle at 802-828-5232 or email dan@thinkvermont.com

Source: http://www.vermontcaptive.com/NewsItem.cfm?NewsID=58