Why would a captive choose to domicile in Tennessee?
A settled statute and a named analyst on every captive
Mark Wiedeman makes a service argument rather than a price one, and Michael Schulz builds on it. Wiedeman starts with the framework, describing a set of code, statutes and rules that has been structured since a modernization around 2011, and a team he puts at about sixteen people working only on captives, all of whom he says have gone through the ACI credentialing process. Schulz picks up the same thread from the business development side: every captive is assigned a staff member from the start, so there is an explicit point of contact rather than a queue. He then widens it to the state, describing Tennessee as a business friendly environment with an established network of lawyers, accountants and actuaries already in place.
The stability argument comes first. Wiedeman dates the current framework to a modernization around 2011 and treats that settled quality as the draw, on the reasoning that a captive owner is committing to a regulator for years and wants to know the rules will still be the rules.
He pairs it with staffing. A team of about sixteen captive specific people means, in his words, that when you call you are going to talk to somebody who knows what they are talking about. He adds that the team has gone through the credentialing process for the ACI designation, the Associate of Captive Insurance.
Key takeaways
Wiedeman dates Tennessee's current captive framework to a modernization around 2011 and treats that settled quality as the state's main draw.
He puts the captive team at about sixteen people, all through the ACI credentialing process, so an owner reaches a specialist rather than a general line.
Schulz says every captive is assigned a staff member from the start, giving the owner one explicit point of contact with the state.
Schulz makes the operational version of the same point. Each captive is assigned an analyst from the start, which gives the owner and their manager one explicit point of contact for anything they need from the state.
He frames it as a customer service standard rather than a courtesy, saying the team is driven by customer service metrics, and that this is what keeps managers coming back. It is worth reading as a claim about response time, which is the thing that actually costs an owner money when it goes wrong.
From the conversation
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance
Captive Insurance Section, State of Tennessee
“when you call us, you're going to talk to somebody who knows what they're talking about”
This answer begins at 1:59 of the full conversation. Watch or listen to the whole thing.
Citations
Sources
- Captive Insurance Section, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurancehttps://www.tn.gov/commerce/insurance/captive-insurance.html
The views expressed are those of the featured guest, drawn from a recorded conversation, and reflect their own professional experience. Nothing on this page is insurance, tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult your own advisors about your specific situation.
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