Blessed Insurance
Introducing AME Reinsurance Ltd

By Rev. John Fisher
Editor and Publisher, A.M.E. Today

The African Methodist Episcopal Church now has its own insurance company. It is AME Reinsurance Ltd, a company wholly own and operated by the A.M.E. Church that was incorporated in Bermuda last Thursday.

Bishop Philip R. Cousin, Presiding Prelate of the Fourth Episcopal District, will serve as the chairman for AME Reinsurance Ltd.  Bishop Cousin has been a long-time proponent of the A.M.E. Church insuring itself so some of the insurance money could stay within the church coffers.

Marsh McLennan, a company based in Hamilton, Bermuda, that is renown as an international specialist in managing insurance companies, will manage this new company.  

AME  Reinsurance Ltd  is a captive insurance company, which by definition is an insurance company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of its parent company
that insures  all or a part of the parent company's risks.

 Many large corporations and organizations have captive insurance companies, since these captive insurance companies can can bring their parent companies  a saving in insurance costs;, the ability to cover some risks that might almost be uninsurable otherwise and a chance to manage and determine risks within the parent.  

The first General Meeting  of the Board of Directors of  AME Reinsurance Ltd will be held tomorrow in Bermuda in the offices of Marsh McLennan.  Participating will be Bishop Cousin, along with Bishops John Hurst Adams,  Henry Allen Belin, and Cornal Garnett Henning.  The other members of the board are all members of the A.M.E. Church 

Bishops Adams, Belin and Henning

The Rev. Dr. Leonard Santucci, is the provisional
secretary to the new company, and Nalton Brangman is the provisional vice chairman of  AME Reinsurance Ltd.

"This company has been conceived and legislated to financially empower the Connectional Church and its Ministry program through the re-engineering of the present Insurance programs," Brangman recently told A.M.E. Today. " By the comittment of the General Conference,  all Church property will be insured so as to achieve major savings for our Church."

Brangman further explained, " The vision of God, articulated by Bishop Cousin in the Bermuda Annual Conference for Seven Years, will on Friday become a reality. Additional finance and economic development vehicles are now under design so as to further the call of the Church to go out into the world and preach the Gospel.

" As Jesus said to Peter, "If you love me, Feed my Sheep!"

In a recent article printed in Bermuda's GazetteNET News, Rev. Santucci explained the economic impact of the project.

"The A.M.E. church operates throughout the continental United States, parts of Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean, England, and central and southern Africa," said Rev. Santucci. "Within 19 episcopal districts of the church we have assets in excess of $5 billion and that is what we will be working to insure and re-insure.  Currently we are insured with separate carriers"

The A.M.E. Church is not the only organization to incorporate its captive insurance program in Bermuda.  Bermuda is one of the leading centers in the world for this form of insurance company. There are more than 1,500 currently registered there.  The reason for it being so popular is there are tax savings for such a company being incorporated at the offshore location.

The fact there are so many captive insurance companies incorporated in Bermuda means there also is more expertise available there as well as resources.

In a published report, Marsh  seemed pleased at the opportunity to be involved with the A.M.E. Church in the management of the new insurance company.

Jill Husbands, senior vice president of business development at Marsh said, "We are very honored and excited to be appointed to work wit the A.M.E. Church.  To begin with the captive will handle the church's property and casualty insurance."

She explained, "I believe it is better to start with one defined area and then, if financially feasible, we will broaden to other areas of the church's insurance and eventually it will be all-encompassing."

Here is how the insurance plan would operate:

AME Reinsurance Ltd would not be going from church to church writing policies itself,  but all insurance would be channeled through it by a main United States insurance company yet to be named.  Once this insurance is received, AME Reinsurance may pass  some insurance off to other reinsurance companies, if it so desires.  AME Reinsurance, however, only will cover risks of the AME church and will not take in business from any other organization or company.

Brangman further explained in the GazetteNET article, "The church, through its original incorporation, was designed to be a not-for-profit organization. The structure of this operation is wholly and solely for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  One share, one shareholder -- the A.M.E. Church.  That is it.

"We seek to take this income to do that which the church has been called to do.  When we are better able to meet that calling, then truly we as a church are doing that which would please God in the first place," Brangman concluded.