The Aloha Spirit

The Hawaii Captive Insurance Council, com-prised of Hawaii captive owners and service providers, works in concert with State of Hawaii captive regulatory authorities to develop a stable, top-quality business environment.

Hawaii strives to be a friendly home to captives, said George W. Sumner III, president of Hawaii Captive Insurance Council and vice president of the Bank of Hawaii.

BEST’S REVIEW: What role does the Hawaii Captive Insurance Council play in the captive industry?

SUMNER: Our mission is really guided by “the Aloha spirit.” HCIC unifies and supports the captive owners, regulators, legislators and captive service providers. HCIC advocates on issues and initiatives, educates on current and future issues and communicates this information to its members and prospective members. Our vision is, basically, to advance Hawaii as a world class captive domicile. Through our efforts, Hawaii’s on the map with the highest quality, known for its reliable regulatory and captive business--friendly environment--hence the Aloha Spirit that I mentioned at the beginning.

BR: What is the Aloha Spirit?

SUMNER: It’s a sense of family and being friendly. Aloha is “hello,” “goodbye,” and “I love you.” It’s a very friendly term and it’s a greeting also.

BR: Why Hawaii?

SUMNER: We’ve been around since 1987, so we’re not the new kids on the block. We’ve become a leading captive insurance domicile in the Pacific Rim, based on number of captives, infrastructure and premiums underwritten.

We’re committed to team work. The key to a successful captive insurance company is the ability of all parties involved to work closely together. And in Hawaii, long-term relationships are easily established and staff turnover is minimal. Not too many people want to leave here.

Responsive. Our regulators evaluate each captive insurance application on its own merits. And our regulators believe in assisting our clients by working toward solid business solutions for their corporate needs.
On-shore security. This is very important after the Enrons of the world. We have a good reputation. In fact, Hawaii is one of the most respected captive locations as the reporting and regulatory requirements for companies based here are well established and internationally recognized.

We’re strategically located. We are serviced by direct flights from 23 major U.S. cities and 27 international cities.

Also--this is what I should have brought up first--is the competitive pricing. Hawaii has a low graduated tax, which means the higher the premium, the lower the percentage of the tax. If you’re paying a premium tax in another state, we would not double tax that. And, basically, these premium taxes and regulatory fees are set to cover costs only. Our philosophy is: Bring the business in, and that in turn, will bring visitors to our islands and the indirect expenditures are very, very significant.

BR: And where do you see the growth in captives?

SUMNER: We are seeing more Asian/Pacific captives being formed or re-domiciled, mainly from Japan but we’re seeing interest in China and also South Korea at this point. In 2006 we formed the first employee benefits captive in Hawaii. We’re seeing more interest in that arena as well as pension liability and retiree medical. And we’re also seeing some of the middle market heat up a little bit. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13