Timothy C. Mosler
Darcie R. Truttmann
Nicholas Gurgone
Michael K. Chen
Gregory W. Fears, Jr.
Laura A. Maxwell
Robert J. Walling III
Ken J. Hawkins
Derek W. Freihaut
Aaron N. Hillebrandt
Arthur R. Randolph II
Joseph A. Herbers
Erich A. Brandt
Terrence D. Wright
Legaré W. Gresham
I was looking for an actuary that was open minded with a broad depth of knowledge. My past actuaries were more concerned with their formulas than what I suggested. Pinnacle is the best!
Pinnacle helps alternative market risk owners, captive managers and service providers determine risk retentions that optimize the balance between the cost of risk transfer and loss volatility.
Pinnacle consultants deal with auditors daily, assisting them in serving their customers and evaluating the work products of other actuaries.
Pinnacle provides loss reserve analyses and other diagnostics in support of collateral negotiations associated with deductible and/or self-insured retentions.
Pinnacle is experienced developing cost allocation mechanisms by member or department in the most equitable manner using elements such as – exposure, geographic cost differences and actual loss experience.
Management sometimes wishes to reflect the time value of money in funding projections, accruals for unpaid claims liabilities and other valuations. The two most important parameters for doing so are the assumed interest rate and the underlying claim payment pattern. Assessing reasonable values for these parameters is not trivial as the interest rate may need an adjustment for risk while the claim payment pattern may not be readily available.
Whether it’s a captive insurance company, large deductible program, self-insured entity, public entity pool or syndicate, an alternative market entity is a risk retention program outside the traditional commercial property and casualty market. By virtue of the growth in the alternative markets for more than 30 years, the premium volume outside the mainstream markets is now greater than that written by the traditional markets.
Pinnacle understands the needs of those involved in the alternative markets, the most important of which is a desire to control insurance costs over the long term. Each program has unique risk characteristics that are often the impetus for the program formation in the first place. Differing geographic, industry or line of business mixes of business may dictate customized approaches to reviewing the risk profile for your program.
Pinnacle has expertise in a wide variety of lines of business, regulatory jurisdictions and industry niches. Not only do we have a team of experienced consultants at your service, we also have the local knowledge unique to individual market segments such as:
Risk (and Opportunity) Everywhere Captive Review Authored by Robert J. Walling III.
October 2019 APEX An Update to Pinnacle’s Risk Retention Group Benchmarking Study Authored by Erich A. Brandt and Gregory W. Fears, Jr. and Robert J. Walling III.
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Captive Feasibility Study More »
When a regional physicians group, with a moderate deductible program realized they were not getting due credit for more than a decade of exceptional loss experience, they decided to explore other options.
They chose Pinnacle specifically due to our expertise in captive and self-insurance programs.
Initially, Pinnacle discussed options including segregated cell captives, single parent captives, and even risk retention groups once they began to consider marketing the program to other similar regional physician groups.
While the customer was considering the structural alternatives, Pinnacle pursued a funding analysis. Credibility weighting the customer’s experience with industry benchmark data, produced estimates of expected losses and loss variability in several different loss layers. This not only showed the additional risk associated with higher limits of self-insurance, but was also tremendously valuable in negotiations with fronting carriers and reinsurers.
The client decided to increase the deductible on the coverage provided by their insurer, which offered more responsive pricing due to Pinnacle’s funding analysis and to form an off-shore captive providing deductible buyback coverage. The comfort level our client had with the insured’s services also influenced the decision.
Pinnacle also worked with the captive manager to develop the feasibility study and pro forma financial statements that become the foundation of the captive application. The application was approved as submitted and the captive is running quite successfully.
Formation More »
In an effort to attract and retain quality physicians, a large integrated healthcare system operating in the Midwest decided to create a physician’s professional liability insurance (PPLI) alternative to the commercial markets. After a comprehensive feasibility analysis, an offshore captive insurance company (CIC) was capitalized and formed. Pinnacle actuaries were engaged to assist in the feasibility analysis and implementation of this strategy. Pinnacle’s involvement began by assisting the captive manager to develop appropriate assumptions that were incorporated into the CIC’s proposed business plan and filed with regulators. Initially, Pinnacle performed a comprehensive analysis of the current PPLI market to develop base rates, rating factors and underwriting guidelines. On an annual basis, Pinnacle re-evaluates the base rates and rating factors and recommends adjustments to reflect current trends in the market as well as credible indications borne out of the CIC’s experience. In addition to maintaining adequate rates for the program, Pinnacle has also been retained to perform the annual analysis of unpaid loss and expense reserves. The CIC’s annual reserve analysis includes a review of policies written, premium collected and claims incurred by the CIC at the close of each fiscal reporting period. Management relies on Pinnacle’s analyses to ensure the financial health of this strategic venture.
Staffing Self Insured Reserve Analysis More »
Pinnacle was retained by a group of staffing companies with large self-insured retentions for their workers compensation loss exposures to perform quarterly loss reserve analyses and annual funding studies. Pinnacle initially used customized benchmarks for the staffing as the basis for our analyses. However, it became apparent that the benchmarks were not reflective of the unique characteristics of this program. Pinnacle worked with the third party administrator (TPA) for the program to gather additional historical experience for the program, as well as consolidated experience for several similar programs administered by the TPA. Using the results of our analysis of the TPA’s previous experience for this program and others like it, we were able to develop benchmark loss development assumptions that tracked much more closely with the program’s actual loss emergence.
At Pinnacle, we partner with you to explore whatever path it takes to find the answers you need.
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February 13, 2020 Annual RIMS Educational Conference
February 20, 2020 February Apex Discussion Series - How to Incorporate Simulated Data into Actuarial Research Register