Every year, the Reinsurance Rendez-Vous in Monte Carlo has a theme. In 2005 it was Hurricane Katrina, which was unfolding during the course of the meeting, for example. Last year it was Ike.

During my first Rendez-Vous in 2003, the talk was all about downgrades, mostly centered on the Swiss reinsurer Converium, which had been downgraded just days before the meeting and SCOR, which had previously been downgraded. There was serious concern about the viability of the companies.

Not long after that, SCOR came up with a plan that included restructuring, and later massive PR events. Henry Klecan Jr., president and CEO of the Americas for SCOR in New York, told me the about the plan, explaining that it reigned in “cowboy” underwriters and put in place checks and balances for underwriting, shut down at least one location and developed teams to work in close proximity with clients.

The company, he said, was determined to be a fully functioning reinsurer.

Two years ago SCOR amped up its PR program to restore the company’s image. One massive billboard after another were created by artists dangling from ropes during the course of the Rendez-Vous. As soon as one was finished, another was painted on top of it and then another. Three in all. Mimes helped complete the air of celebration (I’m not crazy about mimes, but hey, it’s a French company).

Last year SCOR had several tents erected where it held meetings and press conferences and did so again this year. Behind the casino was a huge white tent (with air conditioning) and an outdoor deck. My favorite part was the soft ice cream cones.

Is SCOR’s plan working? Their ratings are where they need to be and a few analysts have admitted that SCOR has pulled off a daunting feat. Once a company slips below a “B” rating, I’ve been told, it generally continues to decline. SCOR also managed to secure the loyalty of brokers and clients, which was key to their success.

So you be the judge. But from where I sit, it looks like the company is doing pretty well—mimes aside.

At the recent VCIA conference in August, a rumor was being circulated that Bill White could be the next captive administrator of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Bill, who has worked in many aspects of the industry, including captive administrator for Washington, D.C. and most recently Delaware, left Delaware this summer, looking forward to opportunities in the private sector. That’s why I wondered if this was any more than a rumor.

When I talked to him late last week, Bill confirmed that he indeed has had a few conversations with U.S. Virgin Islands and that there is interest on both sides. Whether an offer is made remains to be seen, he said, adding that he has read through the U.S. Virgin Island’s new statutes and finds them “intriguing.”

Meanwhile, after years as a captive regulator, he said he is enjoying being on the “other side.” He clarified that what he’s doing now isn’t captive management, but rather serving as a consultant and answering questions for people considering a captive formation. He said he now has a few projects and helps clients with queries such as, “Can I provide capital funding for a captive in this form?” and “What kind of risk elements do I have here?”

So what’s the next step for Bill White? Stay tuned.

As a reporter covering conferences from year to year, there are a number of people I look forward to seeing. Part of the fun of being at a meeting is catching up with conference buddies, some of whom are other reporters.

One fellow journalist that I’ve missed seeing at the last two captive conferences is Karen Cutts, publisher and managing editor of the Risk Retention Reporter. We’ve been attending some of the same conferences for the past eight or nine years.

Karen was absent from the Captive Insurance Companies Association conference in March and from the Vermont Captive Insurance Association conference earlier this month, for health reasons. She also has had to suspend a monthly column she writes for NU on risk retention groups.

I read a notice today in the latest Risk Retention Reporter that Karen is expected to remain on medical leave for an extended period of time. Meanwhile, her husband and business partner, James Cutts, has stepped in as publisher. Chris Dauer, whom I met at VCIA, is now working as staff writer for RRR, covering the East Coast, the notice said. Chris, in fact, was an employee at NU before I started here in 2000.

Here’s something interesting that happened a couple of years ago at the CICA conference, when Karen and I were catching up at dinner in the hotel restaurant. Karen noticed that renowned White House correspondent Helen Thomas—who was to be keynote speaker the next day—had been seated at a table near ours. She suggested we say hello, so we stopped by on our way out and chatted with Helen for a few minutes. Helen was warm and charming, and interested in the fact that we were both reporters. She also asked some questions about captives and the insurance industry in general, which we were happy to answer.

And so I anticipate seeing Karen at the CICA conference in March—hopefully before then. I know Hugh Rosenbaum, retired principal for Towers Perrin in London, would also like to see here there. The two play musical instruments and have enjoyed practicing together over the years during conference down-time.

Karen, get well soon!

A session at the Vermont Captive Insurance Association annual conference earlier this month had the audience chuckling and ended the conference on a light note.

Derick White, president of Strategic Risk Solutions Vermont, and former director of captive insurance for the State of Vermont, presented a workshop called “Toolbox Talk: Top 10 Ways You Know Your Insurance Company is in Trouble.”

The David Letterman-style presentation was fun and informative, especially at a time when risk managers—being grilled by their boards about the solvency of their insurers—are becoming detectives, looking way beyond ratings.

And so, without further ado, here is Derick White’s Top-10 list:

#8—Risk Based Capital is so low, it’s lower than half Len’s golf handicap! [Len Crouse is Vermont’s former deputy commissioner of captive insurance and evidently has a high golf handicap.]

#7—Company receives permitted practice to use white paper on its annual statement cover to save on yellow ink costs!

#6—The broker feels sorry for the company and returns his commission…so does the attorney!

#5—Schedule P loss triangles are now trapezoids.

#4—Board members double up at the Red Roof Inn for the annual meeting.

#3—Net Written Premium is greater than Gross Written Premium.

#2—Loss reserves are so far off that Bornhuetter has stopped talking to Ferguson [Bornhuetter-Ferguson method for loss reserving].

And the #1 way you know your insurance company is in trouble…

Schedule D lists scratch-off tickets!

At the Vermont Captive Insurance Association conference last week, a lunch time discussion centered on U.S. captive domiciles. How many? The consensus was there are around 40. The last word, NU’s growth chart—an exclusive by CaptiveStats LLC (Aug. 10, 2009)—sited 36 domiciles—including Guan, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The number of states with captive legislation is tipping the scales.

But while a majority of states have captive regulations on the books, some domiciles remain relatively inactive. Colorado, one of the first domiciles, which had nine in 2006, now has six captives and Rhode Island and three other domiciles have no captives licensed. In comparison, Vermont, which as the largest domicile, has around 552 captives.

Although the number of captives a domicile has licensed doesn’t tell the whole story—it kind of does. From what I’m seeing, domiciles with the steadiest growth, especially in this down market, are those that have stayed the course, even through staff and regime changes. They’re seeing growth now, while some others remain flat.

By staying the course, I mean that their state backs them up and sees the value of captives, even through changes in governors and insurance commissioners.

This has been the case with Vermont, whose governor is generally present to welcome annual conference attendees. The legislature’s backing also is impressive and for its diligence, the state has been repaid with 1,400 jobs and more.

Hawaii and the District of Columbia are other examples and these are not the only ones.

I have to say, though, this isn’t a big surprise. After years of covering captives, I can pretty well follow the domicile trends just by making phone calls—it’s that evident.

For example, a few of the smaller domiciles that I’ve contacted answered with generic voice mail. Others weren’t sure who I should talk to and occasionally I’ve left a message and been told too late that it hadn’t been delivered. Captive managers and others making inquiries most likely have similar responses.

It appears that those forming captives are well aware of who is on the ball. This year the trend seems to by towards domiciles exhibiting continuity that have backing from their state. That includes passing legislation when needed and hiring dedicated staff.

A few domiciles appear to be victims of politics and this is too bad. Revolving door administrators and insurance commissioners and lack of staff—slowing down the approval process—can be red flags.

What seems to be working for domiciles is what works for any successful business—“steady as she goes.” Those who follow this rule, in my estimation, will continue to see increased jobs, premium volume and other benefits in their state. Those that don’t, won’t.

Public risk managers are smack in the middle of a lot of issues these days. Like it or not, their departments are being squeezed by budgetary constraints and they face many difficult decisions—not the least of which is how money is allocated, including stimulus funds.

I recently wrote about a History Channel special, focusing on our country’s crumbling infrastructure across the U.S. and how little is being done about it in many cases.

It was hoped that stimulus money within the states would go to repairing dangerous bridges, levees, sewers and dams. Sadly, however, it appears this may not be happening as planned. It’s human nature that more visible, quick-fix issues may receive funding, while some unseen—even while more deserving—problems go without.

This was brought to my attention by a recent Associated Press article, “States spend stimulus funds on easy projects, skip unsafe bridges.”

In the article it was pointed out that while a chief purpose of the stimulus package was to repair America’s decaying bridges, the reality is that much of the money is going to repair bridges that are already in good shape or for road repair.

According to the AP, repairing or widening roads can be done quickly, while repairing or replacing bridges can involve years of planning and construction–they generally are not “shovel-ready” projects.

And so, of 150,000 bridges that have been labeled as deficient or obsolete, only 1,286 are slated for repairs—less than 1 percent. This is a sad fact to report, especially given the Minneapolis bridge collapse only two years ago.

I posed this issue to immediate outgoing PRIMA President Sarah Perry, risk manager for the City of Columbus Mo. Ms. Perry confirmed that much of their stimulus money is going for road repairs.

She said that while many public risk managers may not have direct say in how the stimulus money is spent, they often have input in recommending projects that are “shovel-ready.” Some who report to city representatives, however, have more input, she noted.

Overall, public entities are feeling the effects of the downturn and are trying to do more with less money. In some cases, this means services to the public must be cut back or even suspended, Ms. Perry said.

But with so many serious projects begging repair, my hope is that some of the stimulus money is going where it’s needed.

Public risk managers, have you had experiences, disappointments or happy surprises in this area?

My recent blog and column about two recent hotel “almost” fire alarm experiences in the middle of the night—at the PRIMA and Bermuda Captive Conferences—brought in a number of comments, both on the blog and in the form of e-mails sent to me. A number of people I’ve spoken to in the course of business also had similar tales to tell.

In my column (National Underwriter, July 6/13) I mentioned that while these events were no reflection on the associations holding the meetings, the organizations should go over a hotel’s emergency response and evacuation plans when booking events.

In response, I received a thoughtful e-mail from Lisa Lopinsky, executive director of the Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA).

Her comment:

“A quick note regarding your recent Editorial Comment, “A Wake-Up Call.” I couldn’t agree with you more and I am sorry that you had to experience chaos during your attendance at the recent PRIMA Annual Conference. I have been in one too many hotels when an alarm was sounded and the hotel staff did not have a clue as to what procedures to follow.”

She continued: “I did want to let you know that PRIMA does receive and review a copy of a hotel’s emergency plan. My meeting planner brings the plan with her on site. In addition, we make an announcement during the opening general session regarding emergency procedures at the hotel. After reading your column, however, I did realize that in addition to making a verbal announcement to our conference attendees, that we should also print the procedures in our on-site program…which will we do from this point forward.”

Lisa’s response is certainly what I had hoped for and I’m happy to say that it looks like PRIMA attendees will see some procedural changes in the future.

Looking through my Rolodex yesterday, I was surprised by the number of cards that are no longer relevant. In fact, both sides of many of the cards are filled with updates—and now are completely out of date on both sides. Phone numbers, titles and companies have been crossed out and rewritten.

For example, many of the captive insurance domicile regulators have moved on, mostly to the private sector. Vermont’s former regulator, Len Crouse, created big news when he left about a year ago to join Towner Management. Also in Vermont, Molly Lambert, former president of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association, very recently left to take a job in the public sector. Her replacement has not yet been announced. Molly, in fact, replaced Lisa Ventriss a few years back. At another association, the Captive Insurance Companies Association, President Dennis Harwick replaced Carl Modecki a few years ago.

Clayton Ingram, formerly business and development with the ART sector of the S.C. Dept. of Insurance transferred to another department (Clayton is a great photographer and liked to e-mail his photos). In Hawaii, Craig Watanabe recently left as captive regulator to join the private sector—no permanent replacement there yet, either. In the media department, there was Joe Treaster, who covered the insurance beat for the NY Times. He entered the world of academia in Florida. And the list goes on.

When I look at the public relations and communications contacts, a good number from years past are no longer with their companies either. So while it’s expected that people will move around and change positions and companies, it’s surprising to see just how much movement there has been over the past nine years,since I’ve been at this job.

But the real issue, according to my husband, is the fact that I’m still using a Rolodex. That’s true, but if I didn’t have this Rolodex—low-tech and cumbersome as it is—all of these changes wouldn’t have been nearly as evident.

Having the entries crossed out and updated, in different colors of ink even, makes them more visible than if they had been updated in an online address book. It’s true I would be able to more quickly and easily sort through the information. But while I do have an online version, somehow the good old Rolodex is what I usually reach for—and keep reasonably up to date.

Dare if you will, to watch the History Channel special, “The Crumbling of America.” While this show initially comes across like a doomsday scenario, you quickly realize it’s not. This is not a hypothetical “what if?” special, but rather a documentary about real infrastructure nightmares here in the U.S.—and there are plenty of them.

Here are a few facts I learned: In 1961 the U.S. spent 12 percent of GDP on its infrastructure—it now spends 2.5 percent. Meanwhile India spends 8 percent and China 9 percent. According to the documentary, we would need to spend $2.2 trillion over the next five years to bring our infrastructure to “acceptable” levels. Meanwhile, only 9 percent of the stimulus package was earmarked for infrastructure repairs. I’m no mathmetician, but I can see where this is going.

The documentary sums it up this way: “Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation’s highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark.”

The program uses interviews with real experts, on-location shooting and computer animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be awaiting us if we don’t take action.

One such disaster they pointed to was the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis—the result of a “tiny design flaw”—plates on the bridge that were one-half inch thinner than they were supposed to be. Another was the coal ash dam breach in Tennessee, which wiped out a community. There are hundreds of similar dams in the U.S., according to the report.

What brought it home, however, was a report on the Tappan Zee Bridge, a 3.1-mile bridge connecting Westchester and Rockland Counties, 13 miles north of New York City—and only a few miles from where I live. The bridge is 54 years old. While this in itself isn’t a disaster, consider that the George Washington Bridge is 80 years old and the Brooklyn Bridge is 100, and both at still in very good shape. They were built to last and have been well maintained.

In contrast, the Korean War-era Tappan Zee Bridge, according to the report, was designed to last 50 years and is coming to the end of its life span. It was built on top of untreated wood pilings, which were used instead of steel—a true disaster waiting to happen. And the estimate for replacement? A huge $6 billion.

This appears to be the ultimate challenge for risk managers, especially those serving the public sector. There are time bombs waiting to explode across the U.S., in our dams, levees, underground water pipes and sewage systems. Everywhere we look, in fact.

The question is what’s being done? Anyone?