Captivating Thinking

By Sean King, JD, CPA, MAcc

We have a couple sayings in the South that accurately describe the current state of the captive insurance industry.  One is, “the smeller is the feller”. Another is, “he who smelt it, dealt it”. Both reference the all-too-common human tendency to deflect blame for something seemingly incriminating or embarrassing (passing gas, for instance) by being the first and loudest to accuse others of having done so.

Given that this human tendency is so widespread, it should come as no surprise then that some of the country’s most outspoken critics of 831(b) “promoters” are, or at least not long ago were, by their own definition, tax shelter promoters extraordinaire.   I will identify one of them by name here, and I will provide some evidence to support my contention. I may name others in future posts.

As more and more U.S. domiciles open their doors to captive insurance companies, the industry continues to grow.  Competition among domiciles has driven down the cost for small and mid-size business owners to own their own insurance company.  As such, it is not surprising that more and more small and mid-size business owners are choosing to experience the benefits of improved risk management and a vastly improved financial strategy.   

Have you reviewed your insurance policies lately?  I recently read through the commercial policies we have for our firm.  If you do the same, you will likely encounter many phrases similar to the ones below.

Do these sound familiar?

This insurance excludes loss, damage, cost or expense of whatsoever nature directly or indirectly caused by…

We are very pleased to announce the CIC Services, LLC’s Managing Principal, Bryan Ridgway has earned his Associate in Captive Insurance (ACI) designation from the International Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE).   ICCIE was founded in 2004 and provides the only  comprehensive captive insurance education program