Carter Lawrence, commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, discusses the reasons why Tennessee is growing as a captive insurance domicile
The world today is an exciting, transformative, and, at times, disruptive place for all of us.
Companies large and small are learning every day how they must adopt to the emerging technological advances created by artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics and cyber-attacks while global factors such as macroeconomics, regional instabilities and severe catastrophic weather events are creating momentous changes in the insurance industry that have contributed greatly to the hardening market.
In times of crisis and need, offering a greater peace of mind and certainty has never felt more important to us in Tennessee.
As the global popularity of captive insurance becomes increasingly mainstream, I hope those looking for stability and assurance find captive insurance a tool that can help mitigate costs of traditional risks such as property and casualty, liability or non-traditional risks such as cyber-risks, credit risks and environmental liability, among others.
There are roughly 6,000 captive insurance companies in the world. As industry demand and growth is occurring, more and more captive owners and business owners are searching for domicile stability.
I humbly suggest stability and more can be found in my home state of Tennessee. As highlighted in a Bloomberg article, Tennessee and the US South are in the midst of a “$100 billion wealth migration” as the US economic center of gravity geographically becomes increasingly southern.
The southeast in general has received roughly 2.2 million new residents in the last two years alone. Here in Tennessee, we have seen a population explosion that has fueled our economic growth and made an already talented workforce even stronger.
As the regulator for captive insurance in Tennessee, our team extends a warm welcome to all captive managers. As one of the first states with legislation that enables the creation of captive insurance companies, Tennessee is now a first-in-class destination for captive insurance managers.
If you haven’t visited us yet, I encourage you to come see all the great things that are happening here and meet our team in person. Our numbers bear out the Volunteer State’s success in attracting captive insurance managers.
Today, Tennessee has 159 captives and 503 cells. In 2023, we’ve licensed 24 new captives with quite a few more in the approval process.
Through our hard work and modern legislation, I’m proud to say that Tennessee is the 8th largest domicile in the nation and the 13th largest in the global captive community.
So, why are so many choosing Tennessee to establish a captive or relocate here? Aside from our central location, amenities, and world-class cities, our captive insurance team members pride themselves on being responsive, modern and attentive to the needs of captive managers and owners.
Led by captive insurance section director Mark Wiedeman, our team of 15 are an accomplished and award-winning team with decades of collective experience.
Their focus is on providing good, reliable regulation, as well as world-class customer service. Most of them come to us as certified public accountants and all are graduates of the Associate of Captive Insurance programme administered by the International Center for Captive Insurance Education.
Our department is just one piece of a larger team that includes the support of Governor Bill Lee and the members of Tennessee General Assembly who are working to ensure Tennessee’s economy remains vibrant and healthy.
In a world of constant change and uncertainty, having a place to call home is essential to everyone’s peace of mind. We think the home for your captive is Tennessee.
