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Captives jump in to insure complex risks in higher ed - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Captives jump in to insure complex risks in higher ed by Claire Wilkinson Nakeschi Watkins (left) and Courtney Davis address a RIMS Riskworld audience on complex risks in higher education. Agents and Brokers , Alternative Risk Transfer/Captives , P/C Insurers , Risk Management Hub International May 7, 2026 PHILADELPHIA – Captive insurers are emerging as a strategic tool for higher education institutions to manage complex risks, address coverage gaps and take greater control of long-term financing, a broker and a university risk manager said. Universities and academic medical centers face decentralized operations, diverse exposures and complex governance structures, said Courtney Davis, global education practice leader at Hub International and former risk officer at the University of Chicago. Institutions have experienced “double-digit” rate increases in recent years, along with coverage restrictions related to “opioids, sexual abuse and molestation, traumatic brain injury, cyber and so on,” Ms. Davis said Wednesday during a session at the Risk & Insurance Management Society’s Riskworld conference. At Cornell University, those pressures intensified when it was notified the commercial reinsurance market would no longer insure sexual misconduct through a risk retention group in which it participated, said Nakeschi Watkins, the university’s director of risk management and insurance. The university was funding about $30 million of sexual misconduct exposure and needed to act, she said. Cornell moved to establish a single-parent captive, as part of a strategic approach to risk financing, she said. “It was never a point for me that I think about insurance … I just wanted to figure out how to be strategic and make it work for me,” Ms. Watkins said. The captive, which was established last year after multiple attempts to gain internal approval, focused initially on sexual misconduct exposure but could be expanded to cyber and other lines, used to fund deductibles and to consolidate policies across departments, she said. Captives can evolve over time, Ms. Davis said. After acquiring a hospital with an existing captive, the University of Chicago restructured it into a segregated portfolio company, she said. Separate cells were created, including one for a community hospital’s general liability and medical malpractice, a cell for physicians who were not employed by the hospital, and a third cell for the university’s medical malpractice program, she said. “Medical malpractice, by far, was the most significant spend from a premium perspective,” outpacing other programs because of the limits required, Ms. Davis said. The structure allowed the institution to move excess layers into reinsurance, reducing costs such as surplus lines taxes and fees, and provided a way to support risk management operations, she said. Captives give institutions control over their own data, which can be used to inform decisions and manage risk. Captives can fund risks “that many deem as being uninsurable,” Ms. Davis said. Building support across the organization to establish and operate a captive is critical, panelists said. That includes working with finance, legal and operational leaders and ensuring alignment with institutional priorities. Ms. Watkins said gaining approval required multiple attempts and engaging stakeholders across the university. Persistence and preparation were key to securing buy-in, she said. “I was not going to take no for the third time,” she said. 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