Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Huffman.
Ken, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Well, I’m not your typical CPA. I break the CPA mold… who wants to be normal? I love business in general, and I love public speaking! I enjoy sharing my expertise in a fun and entertaining way that helps business professionals and owners make the most of the company they’ve created. Born and raised in north Texas and a proud graduate of Texas A&M, I began my career at a “Big Four” accounting firm, KPMG. I then worked for a small CPA firm in Fort Worth, where I conducted tax returns of individuals, corporations, partnership and trusts, as well as compilations, reviews, and audits.
During these times, I noticed there were several tax and business strategies that were not being offered to clients. I realized there was an opportunity to gather these tax strategies together and start my own company, CPA to CPA, Inc., advising CPA firms and their clients. By identifying and helping implement these advanced tax strategies, especially captive insurance, clients have saved millions of dollars, plus I have been able to help CPAs bring tremendous value to their clients and their firms.
With seeing the increased demand of captive insurance company formations, I further realized the challenge in finding reputable and superior captive management organizations with the same professionalism and values that CPA firms exhibit. My tangible solution to this need resulted in the founding of Captive Nation, Inc., a captive insurance management firm. We form and manage the day-to-day operations of captive insurance companies nationwide. By providing these turnkey services, this enables the business owner to focus on their core business successes. Captive insurance does three things: protects their business, decrease taxes and builds the wealth of the business owner.
With a captive insurance company, the business owner owns the insurance company, so in turn, they get to keep the insurance premiums to invest or just put away for a rainy day–plus one of the added benefits is that the company receives a nice tax break. With the Coronavirus pandemic, our captive clients are realizing the value of having a captive insurance company–it’s saving their businesses! For those businesses affected by the pandemic and having to shut down… if a captive were in place, they would’ve received an insurance check for their lost sales, revenues, extra costs and more! I really enjoy helping business owners make–and keep–the highest amount of their company profits!
I have an awesome wife and three kids, ages 12, 15 and 17. I love building relationships and making memories with my kids. Although some days (and phases) seem like they go on-and-on, before you know it they’re out of the house, at college and all grown up, so thankfully, we all really love and cherish the time we spend together! My wife is great at planning vacations, filling our time together with jet skiing, snow skiing, and visiting vintage amusement parks and seeing all the baseball parks throughout America. We have seen 28 out of 30 ballparks! We also try to hit as many Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives locations during our travels.
I also love being involved with my church, Hillside Community Church in Keller. They even “let me” do Sunday announcements on the big stage. Ha! I help facilitate their newcomer’s class, too. It’s so rewarding to be part of someone’s story and help in their walk with God. Like I said earlier, I love building relationships–people are all so different, and it’s just fun learning about others’ lives and interacting with them.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has had its challenges. While 90% of Fortune 500 companies have had captive insurance companies for years, small and mid-sized companies have been in the dark about captive strategies. So educating business owners, CPAs, financial advisors, and commercial insurance agents about captives does take time, but when they understand it–when the lightbulb goes off–they see the complete picture and the value this business strategy brings to the table.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Captive Nation story. Tell us more about the business.
I am in the business of helping company owners protect what they’ve spent a lifetime building. Captive Nation specializes in a business strategy called captive insurance. A captive is a private insurance company owned by the business owner. Captives protect businesses, decrease taxes and builds the wealth of the owner. They enable the owner to get custom business insurance, specific to their risks, that integrates with their traditional commercial insurance. Captive policies cover things like:
• Coronavirus/Pandemics
• Business Interruptions
• Loss of a Key Client/Customer/Employee
• Cyber Risk/Data Loss/Hacking
• and much more.
There are many advantages that captives provide. For example, business owners can create warranty and insurance programs that result in additional income that is tax-free. Another client favorite is that premiums paid to the captive insurance company are tax-deductible to the business and tax-free to the captive. Plus, one of the best aspects of a captive is that the business owner gets to keep the insurance premiums because they own the insurance company! Those premiums can be invested or just put away for a rainy day. Captives are an extremely powerful business strategy with many benefits.
Captive Nation partners with other industry professionals such as CPAs, financial advisors, and commercial insurance agents to bring more value to their clients through captive insurance. CPAs promote captives because of the tax benefits; financial advisors are big on captives because they get to manage the money in the captives, and commercial insurance agents offer captives to clients as a way of reducing the client’s commercial insurance costs and serves as a competitive advantage for the insurance agent.
What sets Captive Nation apart from other captive managers is that we are owned and managed by a CPA. The captive insurance manager industry is very loosely regulated, so there is little oversight–this results in captives being set up that do not comply with state and federal guidelines. As a CPA, I am held to a higher standard and we make sure all captives meet state and federal guidelines.
Captive Nation provides turnkey captive services. We form and manage the day-to-day operations of captive insurance companies nationwide so the business owners can focus on their core business successes. Captives can be utilized in all industries–construction, healthcare, transportation, oil and gas, wholesale, and professional services to name a few. Captives are beneficial for any type of business that does at least $2 Million or more in gross revenue. It doesn’t matter if companies do $2 Million or $200 Million in revenue, a captive will pay off exponentially, along with protecting the business, decreasing taxes and building the wealth of the business owner.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The captive insurance market is young. While most of the Fortune 500 companies have captives, the small to mid-sized businesses remain in the dark about this financial business tool. By educating professionals and business owners, we hope to see this industry really grow over the next decade. Once business owners meet the gross sales mark of at least $2 Million, the financial benefits far exceed the costs to create a captive insurance company.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6105 Denton Highway, Ste. 60
Fort Worth, Texas 76148 - Website: captivenation.com
- Phone: 888-944-5588
- Email: ken@captivenation.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/captive.nation
- Facebook: facebook.com/CaptiveNationUSA
- Twitter: twitter.com/CaptiveNation
- Other: linkedin.com/in/ken-huffman
Image Credit:
Kelli Huffman, Ken Huffman, Denise Sedgwick
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