Hawaii Captive Insurance Administrator Resigns--Chief Examiner expected to be named as interim leader

News Release from HCIC 

Honolulu, Hawaii, August 19, 2013 – After serving as the Hawaii Captive Insurance Administrator and Deputy Insurance Commissioner for 3 ½ years, George Sumner has resigned his position, effective August 29, 2013. The state of Hawaii Insurance Commissioner, Gordon Ito, is expected to name captive insurance examiner, Sanford Saito, as the interim leader. During Mr. Sumner’s tenure, Hawaii licensed 40 new captive insurance companies, total gross written premiums increased to $2.6 billion from $1.2 billion, and total assets increased to $14 billion from $6.4 billion. Hawaii currently has 180 actively licensed captive insurers that contribute $40 million dollars in direct and indirect spending on professional services and tourism related activities.

“We certainly appreciate George’s contribution to our industry and we wish him well in his future endeavors. We also offer our full support to the insurance division and anticipate an orderly transition.” says Fay Okamoto, chair and director of the Hawaii Captive Insurance Council.

Captive insurance is a regulated form of self insurance, prevalent in the industry since the 1970’s, and became a part of the Hawaii insurance code in 1986, when Hawaii passed Article 19 of its insurance law. Captive insurance companies are formed by companies or groups of companies as a form of alternative insurance to better manage their own risk. Captives are typically used for corporate lines of insurance such as property, general liability, products liability, or professional liability. There are currently 37 US states that have captive enabling legislation.

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