New captive insurance specialist

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) announces the hiring of a captive insurance specialist with invaluable expertise.

Robert Rudnai is responsible for licensing and monitoring Texas-based captives and alerting businesses to the potential of starting a captive.

In 2013, the Legislature passed a measure allowing pure captives and requiring TDI to license them. At that time, Rudnai was among a handful of TDI financial analysts providing oversight to captives. He evaluated captive insurance license applications, met with prospective captive applicants, and developed relationships with captive service providers.

Rudnai, who started Oct. 2, ramped up quickly thanks to his familiarity with the captives landscape.

“I have been learning about and providing regulatory information to captives from the get-go,” Rudnai said. “The challenge now is to do so as efficiently, consistently, and predictably as possible.”

State lawmakers this year directed TDI to employ a specialist to support captive insurance oversight and related activities in Texas, which has 76 state-domiciled captives and ranks high in total premium volume from captives.

“And,” Rudnai said, “TDI is prepared for more growth.”

A captive is a wholly owned insurance company created to provide insurance coverage to its owner and affiliated companies. Captives are a form of self-insurance. They are typically established to meet the unique insurance needs of the owners.

Rudnai, who will address the Texas Captive Insurance Association this month, said: “There’s an opportunity now to use the experience and operational knowledge gained over the last decade to evaluate and refine processes and procedures. This starts by my listening to our stakeholders and considering their perspectives.”

The Army veteran, who has a master’s degree in accounting, rejoined the department after working in the insurance industry.