We begin the official 2024 Power 50 countdown by revealing who made it onto the list in positions 50-31
It’s that time of year again when we at Captive Review begin our run-down of the 50 most influential captive insurance professionals working in the market today.
After revealing who made it into the Captive Review Hall of Fame on Monday and given our Ones to Watch in the industry yesterday, today we unveil the first 20 names to make it onto the prestigious Power 50 list.
Read below to discover who features in our list from 50-31, and be sure to come back tomorrow when count down from 30-11, and then again on Friday for the Power 50 top ten!
- Greg Cobb
Director of insurance solutions, Sage Advisory
A familiar face at captive conferences, Greg Cobb makes it into the Power 50 for the first time. Cobb has 35 years of experience in crafting investment solutions for captives and traditional insurance companies. He began his investment career in 1987 as a fixed income portfolio manager for Barnett Banks and later served as a senior portfolio manager for the institutional asset management arms of SunTrust and Bank of America. From there, he served as managing director and chief investment officer for Sovereign Advisers and as director of fixed income and lead strategist for Boyd Watterson Asset Management.
- Diana Hardy
Director of audit operations and chief operating officer, RH CPAs
RH CPAs has distinguished itself in recent years as a leading accounting firm for captives, reflected by the firm winning Audit & Accountancy Services Firm of the Year at the Captive Review US Awards for the second year in a row last year. And a large part of that success is due to Diana Hardy. Hardy joined RH CPAs in April 2015 and has been a key leader in the company as it has grown its captive presence. She also involves herself in the wider captive insurance industry, regularly speaking at industry conferences, and taking key roles at the North Carolina Captive Insurance Association, and on the CICA conference planning committee.
- Fenhua Liu
Assistant deputy commissioner, Connecticut Insurance Department
Connecticut continues to go from strength to strength as a captive domicile. For the third year running the domicile was the fastest growing in the Captive Review World Domicile Update and for the second year running it was named Captive Domicile of the Year (< $5bn GWP) at the Captive Review US Awards. Fenhui Liu is the person at the helm of this success, but Liu is not resting on her laurels, as she helped drive Public Act 23-15 into Connecticut law last year allowing captives to accept parametric contracts, among other pro-captive measures.
- Stephen Taylor
Director, bureau of captive & financial insurance products, Delaware Department of Insurance
Stephen Taylor was the ideal person to step into the captive director hotseat in Delaware back in September 2022, as he brought substantial experience to the role following his five years as commissioner of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. In the face of IRS scrutiny depleting the number of 831(b)-electing captives around many states, Taylor has led Delaware’s captive bureau professionally, and pushed through improvements to the captive programme. This includes shorter processing times and a more flexible approach for certain captive applicant’s capitalisation requirements. These innovations attracted 43 new captives to Delaware in 2023.
- Nick Frost
President, Davies Captive Management
Part of the Bermuda captive establishment, Nick Frost has been president of Davies Captive Management for the last 13 years, and remains one of the most influential figures on the island. However, the biggest development last year for Frost and Davies was in Guernsey, as the group looked to expand its presence there with the acquisition of the insurance management services portfolio of Ortac Underwriting Agency. The acquisition-hungry Davies Group continues to expand in all areas, but remains committed to the captive unit, which could see Frost’s influence over the market grow further in coming years.
- Paul Shimomoto
Partner, Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel
One of the most knowledgeable and influential figures in the blossoming Hawaii captive market, Paul Shimomoto practices in the areas of corporate and insurance regulatory law, with an emphasis in captive insurance. His captive and insurance regulatory clients include publicly-traded Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies from the US, Japan and Europe. Shimomoto is also a frequent presenter at local, national and international seminars and conferences for captive insurance. Shimomoto was named Captive Service Professional of the Year at the Captive Review US Awards in 2023 by our panel of judges, reflecting his growing standing in the captive industry.
- Travis Wegkamp
Director of captive insurance, Utah Insurance Department
Having spent 13 years examining and regulating captives in Utah, and heading up the state’s captive insurance division for going on eight years, few know this important domicile’s captive market better than Travis Wegkamp. In that time Wegkamp has consistently kept on top of captives’ needs and pushed through updates to the legislature, which he is again set to do this year. While many small Utah captives are facing IRS scrutiny, the state nevertheless increased its total number of captives to 382 in 2023 thanks to 44 new formations, and Wegkamp’s leadership is a big part of why it remains an attractive domicile.
- Bailey Roese
Partner, Dentons Bingham Greenebaum
From being a one to watch last year, Bailey Roese graduates to the full Power 50 list this year. After a busy year for the micro-captive industry in which her captive tax expertise has been highly in demand, Roese has been a vocal commentator on IRS actions, and been an important voice for advising on best practices for forming new 831(b)-electing captives. A partner at Dentons since 2020, Roese is now a regular speaker at industry events on captive tax matters and her influence is sure to keep growing as IRS scrutiny continues to be a hot topic in the industry.
- Kara Ebanks
Head of the insurance supervision division, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority
Another captive regulator making it onto the Power 50 list for the first time, Kara Ebanks has been a well-known and popular figure at the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority since joining as a chief analyst in January 2007. Her influence rose after being promoted to joint deputy head of the insurance division in April 2021, but her first entry to the Power 50 comes after she was last year made head of the insurance supervision division. On announcing the appointment, CIMA said she had become a core member of the insurance team involved in many high-level matters and with strong technical skills.
- Sean King
Founding principal, CIC Services
CIC Services has been one of the most vocal advocates for micro-captive arrangements involving the 831(b) election over the last few years of intense IRS scrutiny. As principal and co-founder of CIC, Sean King is one of the key faces associated with the firm, and widely thought of as one of the market’s most knowledgeable figures in this sector of the captive market. As well as co-founding CIC in 2005, he serves as in-house counsel for the firm. In 2015, King also served on the CICA committee that developed CICA’s formal Information Statement On Small Captive Insurance Companies.
- Prabal Lakhanpal
Senior vice president, Spring Consulting
A previous recipient of Captive Review’s emerging talent award, people have known about Prabal Lakhanpal’s talents for a while, and with every year his influence his growing. At Spring Consulting Lakhanpal leads many of the firm’s most advanced client projects, with a focus on employee benefits, captive insurance and alternative risk funding. He drives the strategic and innovative thinking processes and serves as the project lead for some of the country’s largest employers. Since joining Spring and the world of captives in 2015, he has quickly become a prominent industry figure, reflected by his serving on the board of directors at CICA.
- Yannick Zigmann
Managing director, Risk & Reinsurance Solutions
Yannick Zigmann is one of the most experienced leaders in the European captive market, having worked for Luxembourg-based captive management firm Risk & Reinsurance Solutions (2RS) for the last 19 years. The firm manages 72 captives in Luxembourg, making Zigmann an important partner to some of Europe’s largest captives, but 2RS is also well-positioned to be one of the big winners from France’s adoption of new captive legislation. 2RS is one of few managers with an established presence in France, with a physical office that has managed four captives over the last decade. With several applications in the works, Zigmann’s expertise will be valuable in the coming years.
- Ed Koral
North America captive consulting lead, WTW
Ed Koral has seen it all over his 40 years working in the captive market, which has included 18 years with Deloitte’s risk management consulting practice, eight years at Marsh and 10 years at Johnson & Higgins. He joined WTW in December 2021 as director of risk and analytics, and in addition to this role became North America captive consulting lead for the company in November 2023. He previously spent six years on the board of directors of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association, chairing the conference committee twice, and was the 2019 recipient of the VCIA’s ‘Captive Crusader’ award.
- Steve Kinion
Captive insurance director, Oklahoma Insurance Department
Steve Kinion is well-known to many in the captive market for his time leading Delaware’s captive programme, and while he may now be the captive director at the smaller-sized domicile of Oklahoma, he remains a prominent figure. Not only has he brought new life to Oklahoma’s captive industry, which had 20 new captive formations in 2023, by helping to re-establish the Oklahoma Captive Insurance Association, he is also one of the industry’s most vocal advocates for micro-captives taking the 831(b) election – earning praise for his words opposing IRS proposals for identifying ‘listed transactions’ at a public hearing last year.
- Dan Kusaila
Tax partner, Crowe
Another of the North America captive market’s go-to people on captive insurance tax matters. A tax partner in Crowe’s International Insurance Tax Services group since July 2015, Dan Kusaila has spent his entire career serving property and casualty, accident and health, life insurance companies and captives in global and multi-state environments. He has approximately 25 years of public accounting experience, from previous time at Deloitte and Saslow Lufkin & Buggy, in which time he developed a specialist knowledge of captive tax issues. He is happy to share his thoughts and is a recognisable speaker at various professional meetings and forums.
- Mikhail Raybshteyn
Partner, global insurance tax, insurtech and captive insurance services practice, EY
Mikhail Raybshteyn is highly thought of in the industry for his expertise in captive tax, and he regularly attends conferences to share that expertise. He has worked at EY for over 18 years, and earned his promotion to partner in July 2019. In this role he assists in planning and structuring, tax and insurance risk advisory, and tax account leadership for a broad array of insurance and captive insurance clients. Today his specialism in captive insurance is reflected in his being co-leader of EY captive insurance services (Americas), a practice of over 40 professionals in the Americas across tax, advisory, risk, and actuarial service lines.
- Erin Brosnihan
President, Kensington Management Group
Cayman-based Erin Brosnihan became president of Kensington Management Group after 19 years with the firm in January 2021, and since then has earned praise from her peers as being forward thinking, and running the group efficiently. As president, Brosnihan has overall responsibility for client services, professional staff training and development, company-wide operations and overall quality control. Through December 2020 she represented Kensington on the executive committee of the Insurance Managers Association of Cayman, and for several years, acted as the chair of IMAC’s Cayman Captive Forum committee. Between January 2018 and December 2019 she also served as the chairperson of IMAC.
- Matt Takamine
Executive managing director – captive practice leader, Brown & Brown
Based in Hawaii, Matt Takamine became leader of Brown & Brown’s captive practice in 2022, having risen through the ranks after joining the firm in 2007. Captive owners have praised the job Takamine has done while transitioning into this new leadership position, as well as his role as one of the most prominent captive leaders in Hawaii. Hawaii has proved to be a highly attractive destination for new and existing captives over the last few years, and leaders like Takamine, with his willingness to educate all those looking to be a part of the Hawaii captive industry, are a key reason why.
- Paul Eaton
CEO, Artex International
Paul Eaton’s influence on the captive market gained substantially when he was promoted to CEO of Artex International at the start of 2023, with responsibility for operations in Guernsey, Gibraltar, Malta, London and Singapore. The operation grew last year with the acquisition of Dublin-based Allied Risk Management in May, which Eaton said was a key deal in a “piece of the map that was missing” for the company. With the retirement of Nick Heys, who previously held Eaton’s role and had been acting as president of Artex International, at the start of this year, it heightens Eaton’s position in this part of the business.
- Michelle Sivanayson
Managing director – islands practice leader, Marsh Management Services (Bermuda)
Michelle Sivanayson makes her first appearance in the Power 50 after in September being promoted to head up Marsh’s islands operation, covering Bermuda, Cayman and Barbados. Taking over a large captive programme, including captives owned by some of the largest companies in the world, and leading around 110 colleagues across the islands, makes her one of the most important captive leaders in Bermuda. Marsh recorded islands captive premium growth of 11% between 2020 and 2022, and Sivanayson will be looking to build on this growth. She has spent the last 20 years at Marsh and previously led Marsh’s captive operations group in Canada.
