Captive Review's Stephanie Tassone recently sat down with Andrew Wang, Senior Vice President at Runnymede. For two consecutive years, Runnymede Capital Management has been named the winner of Customer Service in Investment Management at the U.S. Captive Service Awards.
Judges’ comments: Taking out this award for the second year running, Runnymede is focused and committed to provide investment management services to its captives. The firm has established a reputation as providing knowledgeable and responsive customer service.
How do you feel about winning the customer service in investment management award?
We are honoured to receive this award for a second consecutive year, as it recognises so many people on our team. I believe it is a team effort to provide clients with top notch customer service, so we are delighted to be recognised.
Why do you think that Runnymede won this award for the second year?
For the past seven years, Runnymede has been committed to providing investment management services to captive insurance companies. Over that time we have dedicated significant time and effort to meeting the unique reporting needs of captive clients. For Risk Retention Groups (RRGs), we understand Schedule D reporting and can facilitate the preparation through customized reports.
Because captives outsource typical insurance company functions we understand the importance of service providers working collaboratively. For us, this means being as responsive and timely as possible. Our team takes pride in providing high quality work and excellent client service which include working closely not only with our clients but also with their captive managers, accountants and actuaries.
What is new in investment management in the captive space?
Today, all investors are challenged with zero interest rate policy. When one cannot find risk-free returns, conservative investors like captives are impacted the most, because there is a need to find yield to generate investment income without taking undue risk. The current environment is forcing investors to venture into riskier assets to generate income. Because captives can vary greatly from one to the next, there is not a one-sized-fits-all investment solution, so each captive needs to assess how much volatility it can stomach in regards to their investment returns. Customisation, risk analysis, generating income and asset protection are all important factors to captives that I believe play into Runnymede’s strengths.
Where do you envision investment management heading in the next 12 months?
I think that there is a paradigm shift taking place, a divergence and volatility in the pricing of currencies, interest rates, and financial markets due to debt in developed countries. With central banks and commercial banks also having high debt, in the “new normal”, good news is good news, but bad news is also considered good news. We advocate to be cautious in this bubble environment in 2014 and to be defensive and prepared for the possibility of negative surprises.
Read more Captive Insurance blog posts:
- Do Higher Yields Mean Higher Risks For Captive Insurance Investment Portfolios?
- Cost of Not Investing Your Captive Assets
- A Look Inside Captive Insurance Companies' Portfolios
For additional information about Runnymede or its investment management services for captive insurance companies, contact Andrew Wang.
For more news stories and features in the alternative risk transfer sector, visit Captive Review.
