JOE MCDONALD

Joe McDonald began his career in insurance as an intern at the Department in 2007 when he was in the middle of completing his MA in religious studies at the University of South Carolina (SC). His first responsibilities focused on various consumer-related initiatives and efforts to support and address issues with the coastal property insurance market in SC.

Over time his responsibilities increased to include a host of other efforts to liaise with consumers and producers and to help attract companies to the state. After doing that he was offered a position to work with the captive insurance division in Charleston where he started learning the alternative risk space. It was at this time that he began attending conferences and meeting many people in the industry, such as Dan Towle and members of the CICA NextGen and Amplify Women committees, all of whom helped him get more involved and more connected in the space.

The next big step for McDonald was when he was offered the captive and risk finance product manager position at the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) in Dallas, TX. Working for IRMI was a big opportunity and a highlight for him professionally, he said.

McDonald’s current role is director of captives for the SC Department of Insurance, where he leads a team that is responsible for the licensing and regulation of captive insurance companies, and marketing SC as a premier captive domicile. He added that the team he is part of in SC is second to none and a genuine pleasure to be a part of it.

He was described as actively promoting the industry in a conscientious and positive light, and consistently emphasises the importance of close-knit relationships, based on trust, respect, and a common goal to do good, as what drives progress in the captives space. He is said to be one of the youngest captive insurance directors in the US.

Here McDonald explains why captives are rewarding and creative, how the industry is evolving and why he has no plans to leave it in the near future.

Do you feel that the captive insurance industry is a rewarding sector to work in?

Without a doubt. The relationships I’ve formed in the industry are meaningful to me in numerous ways, both professionally and personally. What I and my colleagues in the industry accomplish together adds a great deal of value to captive owners and to the insurance market.

Add in the creativity that is required to address the various needs that arise from the market cycle, even as new and emerging risks come online, and the captives industry remains a vibrant, engaging, and rewarding sector for inquisitive minds that seek intellectual stimulation among peers who have a vast amount of experience, professionally of course, but also in travel, education, and culture.

What we do collectively as an industry is rewarding on many levels.

Would you recommend the captive insurance industry to young people as a future career path?

I would and I have, often. Anyone I meet who is interested in insurance as a career or who is already in the insurance industry and seeking to change tracks, I suggest getting involved with captives. Every chance I get, I try to promote the captives space and influence others to seek out positions in it.

How do you feel that the captive insurance industry will evolve?

The industry will evolve as professionals in the space seek out creative ways to meet the needs of risk owners, and address risks in unique ways as market cycles continue. How this will happen, I’m not sure. It will depend on the nature of the risks, how the historical approach that has been taken to finance and manage the specific type of risk is not providing the desired results, and how much capacity and risk acceptance, or aversion, the parties involved have.

However, that innovation leading to a continued and increasing relevance will happen is, in my opinion, certain. The captive insurance concept is, at its heart, an approach to innovating new ways to overcome challenges, and this will continue to ensure that the industry remains relevant.

Do you think that your long-term future remains in the captive insurance industry?

At this point, I do. I have found a career in a niche industry that affords me the opportunity to constantly be challenged and therefore to learn and grow, and to do so around people I respect and like and have fun with. We provide a service that solves problems for risk owners and adds value to companies.

It is a privilege to work with so many wonderful people who are a part of this industry and I hope to be able to give back to it and leave it, one day in the far distant future, better than I found it.