As your new President it is my goal to build upon the solid foundation established by Marc Lapointe and Jamie Low. Arizona has become a significant player in the industry and we can certainly work toward being the preeminent domicile as we emphasize our usefulness to captive owners rather than growing numbers of licenses for the sake of growth alone.

New captive formations for the first half of the year have been a little slower than expected but still quite impressive in comparison to what I understand is occurring in other domiciles. If you recall, we ended 2006 with a total licensed count of 81. That total actually included 3 programs approved in 2006 that were not effective until the first of the year. I am very pleased to report that by the end of June we will have formed 3 new captives in the second quarter for a total licensed count of 90. American Honda Insurance Corporation is a Pure captive insuring Vehicle Warranty, Contractual Liability and Surety. It is managed by Beecher Carlson. Thureus Insurance Group is a Pure Reinsurer for General and Auto Liability that is managed by USA Risk. CS Indemnity is also a Pure captive managed by Beecher Carlson that will insure GL for a large homebuilder.

A change in the captive's auditor is considered a change in Business Plan that requires notice and approval of the Captive Administrator. Included with the proposed notification should be the following statements:
 

Tapping Intellectual Capital for Strategic Planning and Promotion of Arizona as a Captive Domicile - I am very privileged to Chair both the Strategic Planning Committee and the Public Relations Committee of AzCIA. The members of these committees have been meeting in order to explore the ways in which AzCIA can best serve its members and continue to support, promote, foster and market Arizona as an attractive and competitive captive insurance domicile.