Montpelier, VT- Vermont licensed 26 new captive insurance companies in 2016, according to data released by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. The new captives were made up of 15 pure captives, 5 Risk Retention Groups (RRGs), 3 special purpose financial insurers, 1 sponsored captive, 1 industrial insured captive, and 1 association captive. There were 8 companies in the healthcare sector to form new captives in 2016. Two captives were redomesticated from the Cayman Islands and one from Washington, D.C.

“It’s great to see another strong year of growth for captive insurance in Vermont,” said Vermont Governor Phil Scott. “This industry has continued to be an important contributor to our economy, and its 2016 growth – particularly in the healthcare sector – along with the national and international awards Vermont has received, reinforces our ‘Gold Standard’ reputation in this sector.”

The 8 new captives in healthcare brings Vermont’s total in this sector to 101 and now represents Vermont’s largest industry sector. Growth is impressive especially when considering the prolonged soft market and added competition by other U.S. states and offshore domiciles.

“The continued formation of hospitals and doctors’ groups forming Vermont captives has been a very positive trend that we expect to continue,” said Dan Towle, Vermont’s Director of Financial Services.

New captives were licensed in healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, retail, real estate, construction, financing, lending, leasing, and other.

“The quality of Vermont’s 2016 licensees was outstanding,” said David Provost, Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Captive Insurance. “Vermont’s focus will always be licensing quality companies and regulating them in an appropriate manner commensurate with their risk.”

Five new RRGs were licensed in Vermont, bringing the active total to 93. Vermont continues to hold a dominant market share with over 60% of all RRGs premium volume being written by Vermont companies.

“We employ our own examiners which keeps exam costs reasonable for captives and Risk Retention Groups,” says Sandy Bigglestone, Vermont’s Director of Captive Insurance. “The expertise of our staff when it comes to analysis and examinations is a significant part of what makes Vermont so attractive.”

2016 was also a year that Vermont and its captive leadership team won several important awards. Vermont won “U.S. Domicile of the Year” for the third straight year, and also won the first ever, “Non-European Union Domicile of the Year.” Vermont officials were also recognized by British Publication, Captive Review Magazine on the “Power 50” list, ranking the 50 most influential people in the world of captive insurance as voted by industry peers. Towle was ranked 17th moving up in the ranking and Bigglestone made the ranking for the first time at 39th. Provost who topped the list last year and in previous years, graduated to the “Hall of Fame” for being one of the 13 most influential individuals to impact the captive industry over the past 50 years.

Notable captives in the class of 2016 include: Tempur Sealy International, Inc., Domino’s Pizza Franchisees, Swiss Re Life & Health America, Inc., West Marine, National Life, United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, and The Brady Corporation. It also includes the Dutch company, Bechtel Corporation.

The newly licensed captives in the healthcare sector include City MD Group and Affiliated Urgent Care Centers, Prospect Penn LLC, Evolent Healthcare LLC, Assisted Living and Personal Care Homes, Accountable Health Partners, LLC, The University of Toledo Physicians Clinical Faculty, Inc., Gravie Inc., and Deaconess Health System.

2016’s new licensees bring Vermont’s overall total licenses to 1088 with 584 active captive insurance companies. An active pipeline of prospective captive insurance companies is already underway for 2017, with one new license already recorded in 2017.

Captive insurance is a regulated form of self insurance that has existed since the 1960’s, and has been a part of the Vermont insurance industry since 1981, when Vermont passed the Special Insurer Act. Captive insurance companies are formed by companies or groups of companies as a form of alternative insurance to better manage their own risk. Captives are typically used for corporate lines of insurance such as property, general liability, products liability, or professional liability. Growth sectors of the captive insurance industry include professional medical malpractice coverage for doctors and hospitals, and the continued trend of small and mid-sized companies forming captive insurance companies.