It’s not uncommon to hear the first few months of the year referred to as the “busy season” as we kick off a new year and dive into the first quarter. While busy seasons or quiet seasons differ by person, industry, and role, I have personally found the beginning of the year to be a busy season in a different way since it’s meeting season for Captive insurance owners.
Captive owners can meet any time of the year, but those first few months are typically a good time to come together. The meeting dates may coincide with the need for the Directors to approve the audited financial statements, an annual insurance renewal, or simply provide an opportunity to touch base about business while escaping cold winter weather stateside.
Whether we’re meeting in Cayman or traveling elsewhere outside the U.S., meeting season is an important and productive time for Captive owners and Managers.
Taking Care of Business
While we encourage Boards to meet in Cayman as often as possible, one benefit to meeting in Cayman is the chance to sit down and discuss the Captive’s business plan with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). We recommend that each Captive Board visits CIMA once every three years. For captives that are a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC), we encourage all meetings to be held outside of the borders of the U.S. to ensure that all management decisions are being made offshore.
A Captive’s Board of Directors should meet at least annually. Several items from CIMA require annual approval, such as:
- Risk Management Framework
- Corporate Governance Framework
- Outsourcing Policy
In addition, the Board should review and approve the Company’s CIMA-approved Business Plan at least once a year.
As well as fulfilling the necessary legal requirements, a meeting is also an opportunity for Captive business partners to share knowledge and experience. For the team at GCM, it’s an opportunity to put faces to names and to talk to our clients about all the hard work going on behind the scenes. It can sometimes be a long journey, but the result is always worth it when you get to explain to a new insurance Captive member that they’ve just made one of the best business decisions of their lives.
Meetings Make it Happen
As well as client meetings, I’ve been traveling for conferences and for business development purposes since January 1. It’s a lot of time in airports and in flight, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I love my job, and the highlight of it all is seeing the people that you are working with. Catching up with your business partners, chatting with Captive insurance owners who chose to do something different with their insurance, and doing all that with a margarita and a view of the Cabo San Lucas sunset isn’t too bad either.
Traveling, even under the best circumstances, wears on you after a while, but it also provides opportunities for the unexpected. I was recently having dinner at the bar of an airport hotel in Charlotte, NC when I started a conversation with a man next to me about Captives. He turned out to an insurance broker interested in setting up his own Captive. Happy accidents like this happen in the strangest places (or maybe the best business deals are done at airport hotel bars!). Either way, I wouldn’t change meeting season for anything because I’ve seen firsthand how it connects us with our Captives and keeps us prepared for the future of the industry. If you’re ready to own your outcomes and learn more about Captives, we can help. Contact us today and let’s get started!