Judging process

 The judging process is rigorous and thorough to ensure that all the entries receive full consideration and that the true winners are chosen.

Judges will take part in a judging conference call, where the winners will be decided, where one expert per category will be asked to summarise the judges comments and provide any additional input as required. Judges have discretionary power to move submissions into alternative categories that they think may be more suitable. All judges are required to sign a disclaimer form to keep information about entries and the final winners confidential.

 The judging panel
 The judges are carefully selected for their wealth of experience and expertise, as well as their absence of conflicts of interest.

PLEASE NOTE: Judges do not judge any categories that their company has been entered in and are obliged to declare that they have no conflicts of interest prior to judging.

 Judging Panel 2017
 This year we have been joined by a host of expert judges. The judges have been divided into two groups - Captive Owner Judges and Captive Industry Judges

 Captive Owner Judges
Courtney W. Claflin is the Executive Director of Captive Programs for the University of California, Office of the President. Current captives under his direction include Fiat Lux Risk and Insurance Company, a single parent captive and UC Health RRG, A Reciprocal Risk Retention Group. The University of California system consists of 10 University campuses, 5 academic health systems, and 3 national laboratories, incorporating over 240,000 students, 280,000 faculty and staff, $30 billion of annual revenues and more than 1.7 million alumni living and working around the world. As Executive Director, his role is the development, implementation and management of the captives and all captive activities.

Julie Bordo is the President and General Manager of PCH, an RRG providing general and professional liability insurance to over 1,200 personal care homes and assisted living facilities in the U.S. After serving as outside counsel, she joined the company in 2013 as its Vice President and Claims Committee Chair. A former litigator, Julie has over 25 years of experience working as counsel to fellow attorneys and businesses. With such diverse experience, she engages a 360 view when addressing the unique demands of managing a risk retention group.

Mary Ellen Moriarty has been actively engaged in the insurance industry for over thirty years in positions within national insurance brokerages as well as commercial insurance carriers. She joined EIIA who is the owner of both College Insurance Company (CIC) and College Risk Retention Group (CRRG) in 2002 as the Vice President for Property & Casualty focusing her considerable insurance experience in the higher education.

Melissa D. Hollingsworth is the Director of Risk Management and Insurance for Jelco Insurance Company, PCC, which is the captive for Jim Ellis Automotive Group. Jim Ellis operates 14 dealerships in the metro Atlanta area and has over 1,100 employees. Melissa has worked in various claims and management functions within the insurance industry since 2002 including positions with Crawford and Company, the Brit Insurance syndicate for Lloyd’s of London, and Utica National Insurance. She has overseen the daily operations and in house management for Jelco, PCC since 2013. Melissa holds a B.A. in History from Oglethorpe University and is a native of Atlanta, GA.

Michael T. Scott is Vice President, Insurance & Risk Management for Archer Daniels Midland Company where he heads ADM’s Insurance & Risk Management Department and serves as President and General Counsel of ADM's captive insurance operations. Prior to joining ADM, Mr. Scott served as a corporate attorney for State Farm Insurance Companies. Besides being licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois, Mr. Scott holds the CPA, CRM, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, FLMI, ARC, AIC, AMIM, ARe, AIAF, AU, ARM and CGMA designations. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Luke Figora is currently the Assistant Vice President for Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety at Northwestern University. In this role, he has responsibility for risk finance and insurance programs, serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Northwestern’s captive insurance company. His position also includes oversight of the institution’s business continuity, student health insurance and environmental health and safety functions. Luke joined Northwestern in March of 2015. Prior to joining Northwestern, Luke served as the Executive Director for Risk Management at the University of Chicago, overseeing a similar portfolio. He has held previous positions in the commercial insurance industry with Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

Captive Industry Judges
Ellen Charnley is global sales leader and a managing director at Marsh USA. Ellen is responsible for establishing and executing the global sales and marketing strategy for Marsh Captive Solutions. In addition, she provides global sales leadership for other Marsh businesses including Risk Consulting and the Multinational business. Specifically, for the captive practice, her responsibilities include developing 44 captive domiciles around the world and ultimately growing the business. Ellen has over 20 years of captive industry experience across multiple domiciles and markets and is able to bring a global perspective when providing advice to clients.
Anne Marie Towle is an Executive Vice President for JLT Insurance Management and is the U.S. Consulting Practice Leader. She has over 20 years of experience with diverse projects and has worked with captives and other alternative risk transfer vehicles in many key onshore and offshore domiciles. Prior to joining JLT, she was a Senior Consultant with Willis Towers Watson for over 7 years and a Senior Manager in public accounting and spent 10 years in taxation, where she provided consultancy services to captive owners. Anne Marie is a frequent speaker and author on various captive insurance topics.
Jason Flaxbeard manages Beecher Carlson’s alternative risk operations within the US, Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Beecher Carlson is presently the third largest captive manager worldwide by premium volume, managing complex risk strategies for some of the world’s largest companies. Jason’s approach to business is consultative and solutions based. Alternative risk is more than captive management and Jason is able to provide innovative solutions for clients through an understanding of client needs and market forces, delivering services designed to add value to Beecher Carlson’s client partners. Jason has over 16 years of experience in the captive insurance industry and over 20 years in the accounting industry.
Gary Osborne is President of USA Risk Group, operating from the Greenville, South Carolina office. In this role he is responsible for developing innovative alternative and traditional risk strategies and programs for clients and prospects of USA Risk Group (USARG). Gary is also responsible for oversight of the captive and alternative market divisions of USA Risk Group. Gary has been working in the alternative market for over nearly thirty years, having held positions in Bermuda, Hawaii, Vermont and South Carolina. He has been involved in the establishment of numerous single parent captives, association captives, risk retention groups and traditional group insurance programs.
Karin Landry is Managing Partner for Spring Consulting Group, LLC, which is a leading consulting and actuarial firm whose core focus is developing integrated and innovative solutions in the areas of employee benefits, risk management and wealth strategies. Spring’s clients range from insurers such as State Farm, Hartford, SunLife and MetLife; employers like Intel, United Technologies, the Massachusetts Dental Society, AES Corporation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Xcel Energy. Karin has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance, health care, risk financing, retirement and benefits industries. She is an internationally recognized leader in captive insurance strategy, benefits and financing.
Martin Eveleigh is the chairman of Atlas Insurance Management, a leading independent captive insurance manager. He is a past chairman of the North Carolina Captive Insurance Association and sits on the Alternative Risk Transfer committee of the Self-Insurance Institute of America.
Robert “Skip” Myers is the Co-Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of the Insurance and Reinsurance Practice. His practice focuses on insurance regulation and corporate matters with an emphasis on captive insurance and alternative risk transfer. Mr. Myers has written, spoken and presented testimony before legislative bodies on various issues, including antitrust regulation, financial services reform, the utilization of interstate compacts, the Liability Risk Retention Act and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. Mr. Myers is chair of the board of the Health Initiative Foundation, which provides grants to healthcare providers in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mr. Myers has recently managed the creation and operation of numerous captive insurance entities in various domiciles, both domestic and offshore.
Nancy L. Gray is Regional Managing Director - Americas Aon Risk Solutions, Global Risk Consulting, Captive & Insurance Management. Nancy is the Regional Managing Director – Americas for Aon Captive & Insurance Management. She is responsible for Aon’s captive and insurance management operations in the Americas, which includes operations in the United States, Bermuda, Cayman, Barbados, and Vancouver. In addition to her management responsibilities, Nancy acts as a senior advisor to several large captives as well as assisting new clients in evaluating and implementing captive programs. Nancy has over 25 years of experience in the captive and insurance industry.
Sean B. Rider is Executive Vice President and Managing Director – Consulting and Development, in the Willis Towers Watson Global Captive Practice. Sean has 18 years of experience in a broad spectrum of captive and alternative risk transfer mechanisms. In his career he has demonstrated creativity, technical expertise and strategic leadership in working with clients on captive strategies across geographies and in relation to practically all of the key domiciles globally. Sean is an experienced consultant and is heading up the Willis Towers Watson’s Captive Consultancy team.
Thomas M. Jones is a partner at McDermott, Will & Emery. He advises clients on federal and state tax, insurance regulatory and legal matters concerning captive insurance and other alternatives to commercial insurance. He counsels multinational corporations, private business, taxable and exempt health care providers, trade associations, joint ventures, government instrumentalities, labor unions and enterprises of all types. Tom has extensive transactional experience in major U.S. and offshore captive insurance jurisdictions, including Arizona, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont, as well as Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.