Productive Outposts: The VCIA Spreads Its Wings with New Regional Chapters

The Vermont Captive Insurance Association is expanding its global industry leadership beyond state borders by launching new regional chapters in Chicago and Philadelphia to provide out-of-state members with local networking, education, and deeper engagement.

By: David Weldon | July 10, 2026

As recently as 2025, the State of Vermont was cited as the Best State for Quality of Life and the Safest State in the Country. The Green Mountain State is also the global leader in the captive insurance industry. Now it’s extending its reach beyond its New England borders with the establishment of regional chapters.

Over the past year, the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) has launched two new chapters — one in Philadelphia and one in Chicago. These are markets with a high concentration of VCIA members, existing and prospective captive owners, and strong risk and insurance management communities.

“Our focus is on building out these chapters thoughtfully and ensuring they deliver real value. We’re prioritizing markets where there is clear demand, strong local leadership, and alignment with Vermont’s captive ecosystem,” said VCIA president Ian Davis.

The ultimate goal of new chapters is better engagement for out-of-state members, explained Eryn Brasovan, partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, an early member of the Chicago chapter.

“Local members shape the content based on what matters most in their market, and with more frequent meetings, we have deeper and more practical conversations than a one off event [in Vermont],” Brasovan said. “VCIA membership is the common bond that brings us together, and the chapters build a sense of belonging that extends VCIA’s reach and relevance.”

The Missions of New Chapters

The Chicago and Philadelphia chapters are a full extension of the VCIA. They operate under the VCIA umbrella and stay fully aligned with the Vermont association’s mission, values, and standards.

The VCIA is developing a chapter model that brings its educational and networking offerings closer to where captive professionals live and work. The industry has grown tremendously, and members are asking for more frequent, local opportunities to connect, learn, and collaborate, Davis said. Chapters enable the association to extend Vermont’s leadership, while strengthening the overall captive community.

“Chapters expand our reach, but they don’t change who we are. They deepen engagement with the broader captive community in a way that complements and supports the work we do in Vermont,” Davis said.

Early Progress in the Chicago and Philadelphia Chapters

Brasovan confirmed that the leadership at the VCIA is committed to and actively supportive of the local chapter initiatives. Starting a Chicago area captive insurance organization from scratch would be an incredibly daunting undertaking, she said. The VCIA’s backing of the chapters in Chicago and Philadelphia makes all the difference in making a local effort successful.

Ian Davis, president, VCIA

“The chapter kicked off in October 2025, and we’re off to a great start,” Brasovan said. “We have strong engagement from captive owners, service providers, and regulators. Quarterly programs have already generated meaningful discussion and new connections.”

Her firm, Womble Bond Dickinson, sponsored the Q1 2026 quarterly meet-up, and she was able to meet a variety of industry players, all of whom expressed excitement and appreciation for the occasion to get together. The Chicago chapter had a coffee meet-up in June, and the Chicago Chapter Summit will be held on October 28, featuring educational sessions with Vermont regulators.

The Vermont association offers a variety of online resources and webinars for its members, provides year-round opportunities to connect and learn, and leads coordinated advocacy on issues affecting its members, all anchored by its annual conference in Vermont.

It’s a similar story with the Philadelphia chapter, which also includes a number of New Jersey firms, said Lewis Gantman, president at Beverage Distribution Center Insurance Company. “Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey have an extraordinary number of large corporations in various industries, all of whom could benefit from creating a captive insurance company to improve their risk management.” Gantman is president of a 14-year-old captive based in New Jersey.

“Because of the leadership of VCIA in ‘everything’ captive, we have been members of the VCIA for over 10 years and attend the VCIA conference annually. It is for those reasons that I was invited to join the Philadelphia VCIA Chapter.”

What the Captives Concept Is All About

Captive insurance is a regulated form of self insurance where a company creates its own insurance subsidiary to better manage risk, Davis said. Instead of buying coverage entirely from the commercial market, organizations use captives to tailor policies, stabilize costs, access reinsurance, and gain far greater visibility into their own risk profile.

Captives are used by organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 100s to nonprofits, and they’ve become an essential tool for strategic risk management.

“Companies are attracted to Vermont as a captive domicile because Vermont has one of the most experienced and business-friendly captive regulatory environments in the U.S.,” Brasovan said. “With Vermont’s decades of experience regulating captives, the Vermont regulatory framework provides expertise, predictability, and responsiveness of the regulators there. It also offers flexible captive structures, strong legal protections, and a reputation for balancing regulatory oversight with commercial practicality.”

Davis said what makes the captive solution appealing is that instead of being at the mercy of commercial market pricing, captive owners can design coverage around their actual exposures, build long term stability, and retain underwriting profits when losses are less than expected. Captives also promote stronger risk management because the company is directly connected to its own results. Captives don’t replace the commercial market — they complement it — but they offer the flexibility and financial discipline that some insurance markets can’t.

Deeper Regional Engagement

Launching chapters is really about setting them up for long-term success, Davis said. The VCIA is fortunate to have strong member engagement in Philadelphia and Chicago, and that commitment is a major reason these chapters are thriving.

Each chapter has a local leadership team that helps shape the programming calendar and ensure the content reflects what their community needs.

The VCIA provides the backend support, structure, and resources so those leaders can focus on delivering great experiences.

“When you combine local energy with VCIA’s standards and support, you create something that’s both sustainable and impactful — and that’s exactly what we’re building,” Davis said.

Chapters are already opening doors in ways that strengthen both VCIA and the broader captive community.

They allow members to dive deeper into the issues that matter most in particular markets. In Philadelphia, for example, the new chapter has initiated substantive discussions about the region’s claims and litigation environment. That’s an area of particular importance to captive owners there.

Chapters also give VCIA opportunities to partner with other trade associations like RIMS, where they can support each other’s missions and broaden the collective impact.

“They also connect us to a much larger higher education community,” Davis said.

“We’ve already engaged a significant number of students at chapter events, which is an exciting way to introduce the next generation to captive insurance.

All of this reinforces why chapters matter: they extend Vermont’s leadership while creating new pathways for learning, collaboration, and industry growth.”

At the end of the day, the VCIA will measure success of the new chapters by the strength and vibrancy of the communities it is building.

That includes active participation in chapter programming, a growing network of professionals and new entrants choosing to domicile their captives here.

“But numbers only tell part of the story,” Davis said.

“Real success is also found in the smaller, high impact moments — a well attended discussion, a meaningful one on one exchange, or a setting where professionals can broaden their networks.” &

David is a freelance editor, writer and research analyst from the Boston area. He has worked in a full-time senior editorial capacity at several leading media companies, covering topics related to information technology and business management. As a freelancer, he has contributed to over 100 publications and websites. His special areas of concentration are in technology, data management and analytics, management practices, workforce and workplace trends, benefits and compensation, education, and healthcare. Contact him at [email protected]

How Energy Sector Volatility Is Reshaping D&O Risk

Geopolitical shocks, federal policy whiplash and surging demand from data centers are accelerating exposures for directors and officers in the energy sector. Choosing the right risk transfer partner should be top of mind for many.

By: Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance | July 1, 2026

The energy sector has rarely faced a more dynamic stretch. In just the past five to six years, oil prices went negative during COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war elevated global energy prices and instability in Venezuela portended major changes to that country’s oil output.

Then a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sent commodity prices soaring within weeks. Layer on top of that an unprecedented buildout of AI-driven data centers and the race to power them, and what used to be considered “shock” events now look more like the baseline.

“Geopolitical and regulatory shocks are the base case going forward,” said Dan Sanford, Vice President, Energy Practice Leader – Executive and Professional Lines at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI).

“They’ve always been there, but the frequency has accelerated.”

For directors and officers across exploration and production, oilfield services, midstream, downstream, utilities, renewables and emerging technologies like modular nuclear reactors, that volatility translates directly into heightened litigation risk.

A Sector Transformed by War, AI and Capital

Dan Sanford, Vice President, Energy Practice Leader – Executive and Professional Lines at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI)

The traditional commodity-exposed side of energy continues to wrestle with pricing it cannot control. “Even the best, most sophisticated operators in any part of the energy sector that are exposed to commodities are price takers, not price setters,” Sanford said. “You cannot allocate capital long term based on any sort of pricing thesis of elevated pricing.”

That tension is on full display today. With West Texas Intermediate Crude trading at elevated levels, public exploration and production companies are being pushed to grow even as shareholders demand continued capital discipline. New production takes six-plus months to bring online, takeaway constraints in basins like the Permian limit how much oil can be produced and no one knows where prices will land by the time that petroleum hits the market.

“What really matters at the end of the day is how these companies, their executives, and their boards executed compared to what they promised along the way,” Sanford said.

For as we know, when companies fail to back up their promises, shareholder litigation may soon follow.

Meanwhile, the power generation and transmission side of the sector has been transformed almost overnight. Utilities, solar and wind developers, and more recent entrants like geothermal or modular nuclear startups that once operated on long-term investment horizons are now racing to compete for the massive demand crunch driven by AI hyperscalers and industrial users.

“Funding is everywhere now,” Sanford said. “It seems to just be a race to get power generation contracted and established as quickly as possible.”

Federal policy has added another layer of complexity over the past 5 years. Tax subsidy programs that historically covered 20% to 30% of project costs jumped to 50% under the Inflation Reduction Acts, with a heavy tilt toward solar and wind.

Recent legislation has reversed course, requiring qualifying projects to be initiated by July 5, 2026, or completed by December 31, 2027, to receive credits.

“From a D&O and shareholder litigation standpoint, this represents a significant risk because everyone is scrambling to meet those deadlines,” Sanford said. “The outcome is binary. You either get the tax credit or you don’t.” Add utility interconnection backlogs for front-of-the-meter projects, and the runway to deliver shrinks even further.

BHSI has already seen claims tied to tax subsidies and the accounting behind whether projects ultimately qualified. “It’s challenging to have full confidence that all the subsidies and credits promised to shareholders will actually be realized,” Sanford said.

Best Practices for D&O Risk Mitigation

In an environment where shareholder litigation is more material and more expensive than ever, Sanford emphasized that even strong, well-managed companies get sued. The goal is to make the defense as strong as possible.

“We think a measured approach where thoughtful documentation is key makes companies more defensible for any future litigation,” Sanford said. He pointed to several priorities:

Be thoughtful about disclosure. Materiality always matters, but claims have arisen from both disclosing too much and disclosing too little. Guidance, 10-Ks, 10-Qs and interim communications all warrant careful review.

Use third-party advisors – and document appropriately. Engaging law firms, consultants and industry specialists is valuable, but the proper documentation of what companies did with that advice is critical in improving a legal defense.

Right-size your limits. Capacity in the market is not the issue; pricing and adequacy are. Valuations for both private and public energy and energy-adjacent companies have multiplied rapidly, and settlement damages are calculated as a percentage of shareholder value lost.

“As market caps increase, so do the potential amounts for settlement damages, which means companies should be purchasing higher limits,” Sanford said. “There are a lot of companies not buying adequate limits based on where their market cap has gone because it’s happened so fast.”

He credited brokers with industry specialization, particularly those who pair strong energy and technology practices, for helping customers understand and address that need as the two sectors increasingly converge.

A Risk Transfer Partner Built for This Moment

BHSI has leaned into industry specialization as the energy and technology sectors blur together. Sanford and his team work in lockstep with their technology industry counterparts as well as with a dedicated energy claims specialist, ensuring that historical knowledge of energy-specific claims informs every customer conversation.

“Claims is our product. We are in the business of paying claims,” Sanford said. Underwriters are notified and involved throughout the claim process, and claims professionals attend customer meetings, dinners and industry events alongside underwriters.

To help customers stay ahead of emerging exposures, BHSI offers a preferred counsel endorsement that gives primary D&O and Side A customers four hours of annual consultation time with partners at a select group of preeminent securities defense law firms. Topics can range from shareholder derivative claim primers and indemnification provisions to D&O defense strategy and considerations around redomiciling from Delaware to states like Texas.

“That time is theirs,” Sanford said. “We think that makes our customers a better D&O risk, and improved corporate governance will benefit them outside of the D&O context as well.”

BHSI also hosts regionalized events that bring these law firm partners together with general counsels, risk professionals and finance leaders to provide their thought leadership on a range of current developments. And for smaller, rapidly scaling private energy companies – particularly tech-enabled ones – BHSI has built a roadmap designed to provide steady pricing, limits and retention paths from early funding rounds through IPO.

“There is now a much greater pipeline of developmental stage energy companies, and we’re seeing and expect to continue to see an increased pace of IPOs and consolidation,” Sanford said. “Things are moving much faster in this space.”

Looking Ahead

With the July 2026 and December 2027 tax credit deadlines looming, M&A consolidation accelerating, and contract risk growing around front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter power generation, directors and officers in the energy sector have more to navigate than ever.

“It’s critical to recognize that we’re operating in a very volatile environment,” Sanford said. “Cross your t’s and dot your i’s. Be educated and maintain appropriate documentation. Stay in touch with your carrier and broker, and take advantage of any legal help you can access right now.”

To learn more, visit https://www.bhspecialty.com/.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (www.bhspecialty.com) provides commercial property, casualty, healthcare professional liability, executive and professional lines, transactional liability, surety, marine, travel, programs, accident and health, employer stop loss, homeowners, and multinational insurance. The actual and final terms of coverage for all product lines may vary. It underwrites on the paper of Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity group of insurance companies, which hold financial strength ratings of A++ from AM Best and AA+ from Standard & Poor’s. Based in Boston, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbia, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Irvine, Los Angeles, New York, Plymouth Meeting, San Francisco, San Ramon, Seattle, Stevens Point, Adelaide, Auckland, Barcelona, Brisbane, Brussels, Calgary, Cologne, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Lyon, Macau, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, Paris, Perth, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, and Zurich.

For more information, contact [email protected].

The information contained herein is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any product or service. Any description set forth herein must not be relied upon as coverage and does not include all policy terms, conditions, and exclusions. Please refer to the actual policy for complete details of coverage and exclusions.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (www.bhspecialty.com) provides commercial property, casualty, healthcare professional liability, executive and professional lines, surety, travel, programs, accident and health, medical stop loss, and homeowners insurance. The actual and final terms of coverage for all product lines may vary. It underwrites on the paper of Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity group of insurance companies, which hold financial strength ratings of A++ from AM Best and AA+ from Standard & Poor's.