Objective is to provide client's with a single point of contact for captive issues

Chartis Insurance UK Limited (Chartis UK) established a Captive Practice Group, bringing together risk management, risk finance, underwriting, legal, accounting, tax and actuarial functions.

The objective is to provide clients with the expertise to deal with current issues in the captive environment, said the firm's statement.

Matthew Latham, Regional Head of Risk Finance, Major Accounts Practice and chair of the group, commented: “This is a challenging time for captives with a wide variety of issues which need careful consideration. Solvency II is probably at the head of the list, as it is likely to impact the capital requirements for captives – depending on their jurisdiction. With the implementation still some way off, the Practice Group will take a lead in debating the questions that this raises and will discuss with clients some of the potential solutions.”

“Other topics include the viability of alternative forms of collateralisation and solutions required by captives that want to restructure or sell off their long-tail liabilities. Many of these subjects are inter-related and our key objective is to provide our clients with a single point of contact for these, and any other captive-related, issues.”

Philippe Gouraud, Head of Major Accounts Practice added: “Our involvement with the captive market stretches back 65 years, and we are an acknowledged market leader in the field. By bringing together a broad team of experts, we can share insights and experience with our clients.”

The Practice Group will comprise of representatives from the risk management team, which specialises in captive fronting and the issuance of multi-national policies, the Risk Finance team, which underwrites non-traditional captive reinsurance and loss portfolio transfers, the underwriting teams and captive experts in specialist functions such as legal, accounting, tax and actuarial. Chartis Insurance Management Services in Dublin will also have a representative in the practice Group.

In the UK, Chartis handles over a billion dollars of captive premium per annum.