Wednesday, April 30, 2014
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Insurance Department, with the goal of educating businesses about the benefits of captives and fostering growth in Oklahoma, hosted the first annual Captive Conference Wednesday at the Oklahoma History Center.
“Oklahoma is open for business,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak, “What better way to show it than to reach out to the industry directly and invite them to come to us and see exactly what we can do.”
Oklahoma amended its law in 2013 to strengthen the state’s ability to be competitive in captive insurance. A captive is an insurance company created and owned by one or more non-insurance companies to insure the risks of the owners. Captives have grown rapidly in recent years because they have provided an alternative risk management tool for especially hard-to-insure or expensive risks.
“Captives are becoming an increasingly important aspect of the insurance and financial industry in this country,” said Fred Karlinsky of Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky, Ababe & Webb. “Oklahoma and Commissioner Doak showed fantastic leadership by putting on this timely meeting.”
Conference speakers addressed best practices in the industry, examinations of captive insurance companies, the outside perspective of captives in Oklahoma and more.
“This type of conference is incredibly important given that you’ve got 34-35 different jurisdictions domestically vying for the captive market,” said speaker David Javdan, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal. “Not only does this event help Oklahoma play globally, but it also educates small businesses and others that can really benefit from the captive program.”
The Oklahoma Captive Insurance Association (OCIA), a group of captive owners, managers, professional service providers and advocates, also took part in the event.
“We have just recently formed the OCIA and already have ten members and a strong expression of interest for many prospective members,” said Gordon Amini, Secretary of the OCIA. “The Commissioner’s support of the OCIA and enthusiasm for the captive industry has already led to a close and mutually supportive relationship.”
For more information on Oklahoma’s captive law, visit http://oid.ok.gov/oklahomacaptive.html. For more information on the OCIA, visit http://oklahomacaptive.com.
About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.
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For more information contact:
Kelly Collins
(405) 522-0683