Artex Risk Solutions Inc. on Thursday announced the launch of Iccaria, a captive facility for midsize and large pension funds’ longevity risks.
Domiciled in Guernsey and developed through a partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P., Iccaria is designed to provide a cost-effective risk transfer solution for pension funds with as little as £250 million ($381.1 million) in liabilities, Artex said Thursday in a statement.
Additionally, the Itasca, Illinois-based captive insurance and alternative risk financing firm said employers that elect to use the Iccaria facility can select their own administrative services providers to oversee the arrangements.
Paul Eaton, Artex’s new business director in Guernsey, said in the company’s statement that Iccaria was designed specifically to meet the pension longevity risk transfer needs of midsize pension plans, which the company said had been significantly underserved in the captive insurance marketplace prior to the facility’s launch.
“This is an exciting time for Artex and the captive industry as we move into an era where we are able to help pension fund clients hedge their longevity risk on a cost-effective basis,” Mr. Eaton said in the statement. “For many years, the captive industry has been providing clients with alternative risk transfer facilities, and this is another example of innovation being used to develop a bespoke solution to meet market demand.”
The origin of federal rules governing the use of employers' captive insurers to fund employee benefits risks goes back to the early 1970s.