Captives regulators address talent shortage

If you thought it was hard to attract talent to the insurance industry, spare a thought for the niche that is regulators in the captive insurance market. “We have an obligation to spread more awareness about the career path the insurance industry offers,” said Sandy Bigglestone, deputy commissioner, captive insurance, Vermont Department of Financial Regulation.

She referenced the work of the Vermont Captive Association, which holds regular meetings on the topic with the aim of making the market more sustainable.

“We should all feel obligated to share our stories on how we got into the industry,” said Bigglestone. “I never grew up wanting to be a captive insurance regulator, but I’ve been doing it for 26 years now and I love it.”

Her views were shared by another North American regulator, Joe McDonald, director of captives, South Carolina Department of Insurance. “This is a collective concern that affects all of us,” he said. “There will be internships, university programmes and conferences such as this that will attract different individuals. But the best thing we can do is give people exposure to the industry.

“Within the captive market, it was this exposure to high-level executives that got me my opportunities and allowed me to be inquisitive about technical issues like regulation and captive formation,” he said.

Teresa Ready, supervisor senior at the Central Bank of Ireland, was a captive manager in Ireland for 12 years before moving to the Central Bank of Ireland.

For Reddy, the big obstacle is a lack of recognition for the risk management role. “There are still relatively few chief risk officers and compliance managers in Ireland, but it is a ‘profession’ and should be seen as such, just like an accountant. That technical knowledge should be recognised.”

The education and recruitment challenge is across the board in the captive market, said Alfred Parnis, deputy head at the Malta Financial Services Authority.

“It is not a ‘sexy’ place to work in. Most young people considering the finance industry look at banking and investment primarily.”

However, there was one exception to this trend at the Forum – 24-year-old Victor Gallardo, captive analyst for the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Gallardo, a finance major from the University of Central Oklahoma, took up an internship at the department.

“I had originally thought of the investment and banking industry,” he told Commercial Risk Europe. “But after a year of working in insurance, I can see how important it is in both finance and society in general.”

However, when pressed if he saw his long-term future in the captive market, Gallardo was non-committal.