Program Schedule

11:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Golf Tournament will be held on-site at The Westin Kierland Resort Golf Club. Golf cart, green fees, giveaways and prizes are included in the registration price. Note: Lunch is NOT included this year due to the exorbitant pricing for a boxed lunch. Onsite lunch options are available at the clubhouse restaurant as well as grab & go options in Coffee Flats, located near the lobby. Golf club and golf shoe rental are available for an extra charge; please notify CICA staff by emailing meetings@cicaworld.com if you require a club or shoe rental.

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12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Transportation departs from hotel at 12:00 p.m.

Visit three area breweries to learn about the beer making process, types of beer, the breweries and much more. You will be offered generous beer samples and a fun and informative behind-the-scenes tour. Price includes transportation to & from the Westin, lunch, beer tasting, tour and all brewery and wait staff gratuities.

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Join us in the exhibit hall as we kick off of the CICA 2024 International Conference.

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New to the CICA Conference? Join us for a First Time Attendee Breakfast & Orientation for a brief introduction to CICA and how to make the most of your International Conference experience. Bring a business card to enter the drawing for a VISA gift card!

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Join CICA’s leadership for welcome remarks, along with recognition of this year’s CICA award winners and CICA Student Essay Contest finalists. The keynote address by Lt. Col. Dan Rooney will follow.

CAVU: Live Unlimited

CAVU: Live Unlimited
CAVU is an Air Force acronym that stands for Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited. Translated, it describes the perfect conditions to be a fighter pilot, when steel blue skies invite them to spread their wings like a supersonic eagle. Fighter pilots cherish CAVU days because they know tomorrow can bring challenging conditions. Life is no different. In Fly Into the Wind, Lt. Col. Rooney shares a code of living that combines powerful tenets which help you discover and seize your best life. Lt. Col. Rooney demonstrates how all of us are connected by God in more ways than we realize, and that the path to fulfillment begins with changing ourselves to better one another.

Lt. Col. Dan Rooney is a force for good. A decorated F-16 Fighter Pilot, he is best known for founding the Folds of Honor, a leading non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. Since its inception in 2007, the foundation has provided nearly 51,000 life-changing scholarships totaling approximately $240 million.

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In this session, an experienced panel consisting of a captive manager, captive owner, service provider, and an actuarial consultant will cover the basics for newcomers to the captive industry. The panel will discuss the types of captives, why captives are formed, recent trends concerning how captives are being utilized, as well as the potential benefits of using a captive to finance their risk. The captive owner will share their story in the form of a case study and highlight any lessons learned, while the panel provides the audience with some best practices for how up-front planning and preparation can set an organization up for long-term success with their captive.

Emerging trends are signaling a new soft market. This panel will discuss the benefits of utilizing trend data to be responsive vs reactionary within a captive, and perspectives on how captive owners can utilize this impending market change to prepare now. The discussion will include commentary on the new market cycle being more fluid by line of business, how to leverage this data to make the most impact with capacity carriers and which risk management techniques can support captive longevity irrespective of future market changes.

New developments in the European captive industry have spurred growth and optimism in Europe.  As the European captive landscape expands with new domiciles from several notable governments, options are increasing.  A panel of industry experts will share their perspectives on recent developments, growth areas and challenges in the European marketplace.

Natural disasters are making property insurance more volatile and much more expensive. The growing impact of wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes is greatly increasing interest in the formation of property insurance captives. However, property-focused captives face a number of significant challenges including pricing/premium determination, fronting and reinsurance carriers, capitalization, risk distribution and many more.

With the many challenges facing insurance and risk management professionals today such as tightening insurance markets, emerging risks, climate change, catastrophic losses across the globe, and of course the pandemic, we cannot lose sight of the importance of developing and retaining the next generation of industry leaders. With today’s distributed and increasingly global workforce and the unprecedented power shift towards employees, adapting leadership techniques has never been more important. During this session, we will discuss leadership attributes, core principles and behaviors needed to promote desired cultures and create cohesive, successful teams in our new normal.

In recent years, high inflation and supply chain challenges have become impossible to escape. While inflation is slowly returning to longer-term norms, insurers are still feeling the pinch. This session will discuss the impacts of these challenges and how they are reflected in the insurer’s indicated reserves, capital levels, claim closing patterns, premium indications, and more. The impact of inflation on different loss layers is not always intuitive. We will also cover how inflationary trends impact different layers of coverage and what this means for the insurer and their reinsurance program. Downstream effects from the recent spike in inflation including lower capital levels, elevated claim costs, and rising exposure levels will also be covered. Audience discussion will allow participants to share additional strategies from their companies’ experiences. Our final topic will be a discussion on how inflation will continue to impact the captive insurance market if the most recent projections are correct and if the projections are wrong.

Identity theft is on the rise and thieves are even more sophisticated at obtaining your personal data than ever before. The impact can be financially and personally devastating. It can disrupt the organization’s systems, cause reputational damage, and the cost of repairing data, hardware, and software. Further, the costs associated with litigation and credit monitoring services can be extensive. The need for information protection and prevention, control, and mitigation of breaches is an increasingly important topic for employees and employers.

The government has increased its scrutiny, including increased legislation and regulation such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Modernization Act, and the NAIC’s model Regulation to Implement Gramm-Leach-Bliley and Insurance Data Security Model Law. These laws may apply to certain captive owners in the financial services industry and organizations that engage as fronting companies, third-party service providers, regulators, and others in the captive insurance industry. This eye-opening session will present case studies illustrating recent trends in identity theft, the origins of the threats, and best practices in prevention and effective responses for control and mitigation of breaches.

The captive insurance industry thrives on relationships, and industry veterans know that the most important asset for any captive professional is their reputation. But how do you go about building a professional reputation when you are just starting? How should a captive professional approach social media and in-person networking? What do we expect from one another in the captive industry? Are there ethical guidelines or mandates to consider? Can a tarnished reputation be repaired? During this session, a panel of regulators and service providers will provide insight and advice gained from their years in the industry, making this a valuable program for new and seasoned captive professionals alike.

Join us for an insightful discussion on the financial intricacies and investment strategies within captive insurance entities. Our panel brings together a diverse range of perspectives, including a captive owner, a captive manager, an investment advisor, and a regulator. Gain valuable insights as the session kicks off with a captive owner sharing their organizational philosophies and approaches to the financial oversight of their captive. Delve deeper into risk management considerations and financial strength ratios with input from a captive manager. Explore regulatory requirements, loan back options, and dividend mechanisms with insights from a captive regulator. Finally, hear from an investment manager on navigating the current market and economic landscape, and how to align investment portfolios and strategies to support the captive’s liabilities.

So, your captive is building surplus, now what? This session is designed to assist captive owners in determining if and when they should expand their current captive program. In this conversation, our panelists will consider a captive’s solvency & capital position, specific insurance program attributes, corporate risk appetite and more. This panel of professionals has helped dozens of companies determine the most advantageous use of their captive as a strategic enabler for the clients’ organizations.

In this interactive session, senior executives of captives owned or under formation by public entities will explore the unique challenges and opportunities associated with forming and operating a captive serving the public sector. Topics to be addressed include the benefits offered to public entities by participating in a captive program, the dynamics of working with the governing bodies of governmental or quasi-governmental entities, issues arising when navigating public procurement requirements and tax considerations unique to captives in this sector.

This presentation will build off last year’s Captive Land session. Panelists will demonstrate ways to navigate the ups and downs of operating a captive using different board games. Industry professionals will discuss best practices for successfully setting up, sustaining and accelerating your captive’s strategy to provide value for the parent company. Stories will be relayed through the theme of board games and will teach risk professionals how to avoid the “Mouse Traps” when setting up the captive, keep from getting in “Trouble” with regulators and other key stakeholders, and create a “Monopoly” that will have leaders yelling “Bingo” during annual board meetings!

The session will discuss how robust ERM practices and policies round multiple aspects of a captive into a synergistic entity contributing to the holistic enterprise for the benefit of its owners and policyholders. Participants from a rating agency, regulator, single parent captive and risk retention group can discuss how consideration for existing risks in a hard market and emerging risks evolve through an enterprise’s risk appetite and risk tolerance to an offered coverage through feasibility studies to become a part of the entity’s business strategy. Potential formations to cover the risks will be discussed as well as possible lines of business, types of policies offered, and novel capital support alternatives we’ve seen to support business plans.

The captive market has seen record growth in recent years, but what are some of the stories behind the numbers? Every captive formation story is unique and in this panel session, you will hear case studies shared by companies who have recently been through the process. Across numerous jurisdictions and structures, the panelists will explain why they chose to form a captive, how they chose a domicile and the business plan for the captive going forward.

This session will focus on planning for warranty and similar 3rd party coverage in a captive or a similar structure (DOWC/DOOC), the planning opportunities, and consideration items across the regulatory and tax landscape. The goal of the session will be to take a deeper dive into market developments around warranties and similar products and the service provider reshuffle in this space with companies taking business internally.

Managing residual liabilities (runoff) is now recognized as a topic of interest and execution in the commercial and captive markets. With close to one trillion in runoff liabilities around the world, companies are now focusing on managing these through retrospective arrangements. As a multi-faceted presentation, panelists will explain residual liability, the mechanisms for transfer to third parties, and the benefits, processes and timeframes.

This session will cover certain new developments in the international tax arena as well as transfer pricing considerations that at times are overlooked at the captive level or within consolidated ownership groups.

Invitation only.

Invitation only.

Join fellow attendees for a fun after-hours mixer in the Mariposa Private Lounge located downstairs off the lobby! Including an open bar and lights snacks, grab a colleague for friendly competition over a game of ping pong, pool, or foosball or network and connect in a relaxed environment.

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Today, captives are seeing great growth trends toward supporting employee benefits professionals. However, many employee benefit professionals have yet to embrace captives as a viable financial solution for their employee benefit plans. Both as a large employer ideal for a single parent captive and also small/middle market employers that would be ideal for a medical stop loss group captive. We will be exploring ways to solicit a change in mindset for the employee benefits advisors as well as the decision-makers at the employer.

Diversity is more than just a trendy buzzword – when businesses have diverse teams they reap the benefits of higher profitability, greater innovation, better decision-making, and more engaged employees. While the positive impact of workplace diversity is well studied and documented, companies still struggle to get it right due to challenges in hiring and a lack of understanding of exactly what creates diversity. The discussion will ask panel members to provide their own experiences of diversity in the workplace, explain the benefits of diversity at all levels of a company, offer real examples of how a diverse workforce can be attracted and retained, and offer advice on the challenges of navigating diversity in the workplace.

Being able to obtain fronting and reinsurance can make or break a captive insurance company. How does one navigate this process? If you are a new captive, how do you paint a proper picture to get a fronting carrier and reinsurance? How do you negotiate and work with these partners to maximize these arrangements? Hear from an experienced risk manager who has gone through the process and from the fronts and reinsurers who are sitting across the table. What do you need to know to place the business and be a good partner?

This dynamic session will explore the powerful combination of risk control practices and captive strategies, aiming to foster safer environments and drive down incidents. Our panelists will shed light on the key aspects of leveraging captive offered resources to support and reinforce safety initiatives, ultimately ensuring a safer and more secure future. The panel will explore the use of risk control assessment and data-driven insights in identifying potential safety risks and implementing targeted risk control measures. Attendees will learn how assessments and data can inform decision-making processes within group captive frameworks, facilitating a proactive approach to safety and risk reduction.

Captives serve as tailored long-term risk management solutions that can provide greater-than-expected opportunities, especially during hard insurance market cycles. Effective communication, especially during the initial phases of captive formation is essential. This starts with engaging external service providers and the organization’s executive-level management team, which is essential to getting buy-in from the board of directors and other key stakeholders. To communicate effectively key stakeholders must be able to quantify the value of the captive from an economic standpoint and to identify the longer-term risk management benefits to be achieved. This session will provide guidance on the key aspects of communicating the value of a captive from the perspective of a new captive owner. Additionally, representatives from both a captive management firm and a legal firm will provide tips on best practices for communicating effectively from the captive service provider’s perspective.

This session will center on an exploration of how captives can be used to respond to real-life issues with difficult-to-place coverages. Mr. Feldman and Ms. Gedge will review a real example of how WOWS, Inc. captive stepped in to assist in California’s wildfire insurance crisis. Mr. Posko will provide an example of a captive providing third-party coverage to solve a unique business problem. The panel will dive deep into innovative strategies for captive uses and will examine lessons learned throughout the captive evaluation and program-building processes.

The session will provide a roadmap for captive owners and risk managers to leverage parametric insurance to fund difficult risks in tandem with their captive programs. This session will provide an overview of the parametric model, which draws on capital markets instead of insurance markets. Panelists will cover benefits and provide a comparison of how triggers, coverages and such differ from traditional insurance. For example, parametric insurance can offer better coverage regarding policies that represent geographically different areas posing varying risks (e.g., rain and other climate events), within a climate insurance market challenged by very limited capacity. The same applies to new emerging risks around cyber/cloud and critical infrastructure risks, that are excluded or restricted in traditional re/insurance capacity markets. It also simplifies the claims process and offers additional tax and solvency advantages. Throughout the conversation, we will outline how a captive can be utilized in conjunction with the parametric market to solve existing risk challenges, including the mechanics of the strategy, what kind of program makes a good candidate, and other factors.

In an era of rapidly changing business environments, the communication gap between generations has become increasingly pronounced. This session aims to address this gap by exploring innovative strategies and practical approaches that foster understanding, collaboration, and productive communication among various generations focusing on how to best develop and foster the next generation of captive talent. By recognizing and appreciating the unique perspectives and strengths that each generation brings to the table, we can create successful environments in the workplace and captive industry.

Even with recent improvements in the commercial insurance market, several sectors, such as property are still experiencing difficulties which is spurring further increases in the use of captive insurance to assume greater levels of risk retention. Join us for a robust discussion with some of the industry’s top leaders as they compare opportunities, challenges, profitability, alignment, and the trends they see across commercial and captive insurance programs.

Using a captive for employee benefits is becoming extremely common. Quantitative benefits (cost savings) are certainly one major driver. The qualitative benefits such as access to greater data and more control over plan designs and plan provisions are also becoming extremely important to employers. Employee benefit programs can potentially offer captive third-party coverages and are usually considered to be uncorrelated risks. This improves the captive’s risk distribution framework and can allow organizations to gain additional efficiencies on their capital. Adding benefits to a captive requires coordination and education across the organization. Helping HR partners understand the value that a captive may add is an essential part of getting their buy-in to move forward with using a captive to underwrite benefits. The discussion will focus on domestic and international programs for medical, life, disability and voluntary benefits. Some of these coverages may require Department of Labor (DOL) approval. An overview of the updated DOL process will also be discussed.

How you prioritize claims will have a significant effect on how you can contribute to your captive’s success and reduce financial exposure. An effective risk management program requires a key focus on claims management. This session will provide captive owners with an understanding of the primary components of risk management, how they work together, and their impact. The panel will cover several aspects of claims best practices including what is a claim, expectations of claims handling, and why your involvement in claims is essential. Risk management best practices covered include risk assessment (identify risk-claims trends), risk analysis (now that we have identified the trends how does the risk manager work with the captive to prevent claims).

Invitation only.

For the CICA Student Essay Contest two-person teams of undergraduate risk management, insurance and business students are asked to demonstrate how to establish a captive for their specific case study, select policy options, determine underwriting, pricing and more. Finalist teams receive cash prizes, have their essays published by Captive Insurance Times, and present their essays at the CICA International Conference.

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From inception, captive owners and advisors need to be intimately aware of the impact of federal and state taxes on their captives. This session will provide timely updates regarding captive insurance case law, IRS activity, state litigation and legislation, and other need-to-know information related to the ever-changing world of tax.

Join industry experts on day two of the CICA Conference as they tackle any questions that may not have been answered or perhaps you’ve been too shy to ask! Held in a roundtable environment, this conversational setting will allow for easy conversation to help answer your questions on a variety of topics. Audience participation is encouraged and we’ve “packed the panel” with some of our most seasoned captive industry experts. If you’re new to the industry or have any outstanding questions about the many possibilities of captives, this is the session for you.

As a continuation of last year’s New Sheriff (Regulator) in Town session, this session will interview experienced regulators from some of the larger domiciles. The panelists will address the future of the industry from a regulatory perspective with the challenges and opportunities they foresee. They will also discuss how they retain their staff and attract new regulators to keep up with the growth of the industry and staff turnover.

Each year the IRS expands its assault on small captives. In addition to the IRS continuing aggressive auditing, the Treasury has newly designated some arrangements as “listed transactions” (the worst category), several cases have been litigated and are awaiting opinion, and the IRS vacuums up increasingly more third-party information. Will these affect large captives? How do taxpayers navigate these audits? Are the new regulations any different than the old Notice? What new approaches are taxpayers using in litigation? Is the IRS challenging captive managers? This session answers these, and numerous other, questions on how to fight against the IRS and its multi-faceted approaches. Questions from the audience are encouraged to this panel, which has a wide spectrum of experience on these matters.

This session, moderated by Professor Michael Zuckerman, Temple University Fox School of Business, will offer the audience a chance to hear more from the Student Essay Contest Finalists. This informal session held in our roundtable small session format will provide the students the opportunity to share more about themselves and what they learned from competing in CICA’s Essay Contest. Hear what they are looking for in an insurance career. Bring your questions for what is sure to be an insightful panel.

A panel of captive leaders, but like you’ve never seen them before! Join Richard Cutcher and a cohort of special guests for a fun and thought-provoking LIVE recording of the Global Captive Podcast, in which they address the big questions facing the industry, from talent and innovation to new captives and reputation. The 45-minute panel will also end with a special game of captive trivia!