ORLANDO, Fla. — Successful captives openly and regularly communicate with all stakeholders, including owners, board members, brokers, managers and service providers, a panel of experts said.

Communication is critical throughout the lifecycle of a captive, said Anne Marie Towle, CEO of Hylant Consulting. She spoke Thursday at the World Captive Forum, sponsored by Business Insurance.

Communication needs to happen internally across all stakeholders and externally with key partners, including “your broker, your captive manager, your consultant, all of the key people, your regulators, your auditors and attorneys,” Ms. Towle said.

Consistent communication ensures that everyone is informed of what is happening and aligned with the organization’s goals, she said.

People speak differently across industry sectors and roles, and frequent communication is essential, said Melissa Hollingsworth, deputy chief risk officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“I feel like I overcommunicate,” Ms. Hollingsworth said, adding that she uses email and regular reports to ensure the board of managers stays informed about the captive insurance program and can ask questions.

“Because this is not their day job, it’s mine, it’s not theirs, so I want to make sure they’re always apprised of the activities of the operation,” which is especially pivotal in the public sector, she said.

Companies will often call regulators and have conversations about their plans for the captive, said Christine Brown, deputy commissioner of Vermont’s captive insurance division.

“That’s great, but we have 700 active captives that we’re regulating, the same for managers and all the other service providers,” so following up in writing to document discussions and plans is a good reminder and ensures that everybody is kept informed, Ms. Brown said.

Communication also is critical to managing turnover on the captive’s board or in the parent company’s C-suite, panelists said.

As people leave, new board or organization leaders will question the purpose and value of a captive if it isn’t discussed regularly, Ms. Brown said.

“If nobody can explain it because it hasn’t been talked about, that’s not good,” she said.

A few years ago, a client had a change in the chief financial officer, and another strategic review of its captive had to be completed to justify to the new finance leader why the company had the captive for 30 years, Ms. Towle said.

“It’s a good exercise to really think about and go through as you’re evaluating how you hold yourself accountable,” she said.

Getting engagement from a broad group of stakeholders during the pre-feasibility or feasibility stages of establishing a captive can be critical, she said.

“When my CFO, who helped form the captive, left, I immediately put together standard operating procedure and a business continuity plan,” which helped stabilize operations after his departure and allowed the captive to move forward, Ms. Hollingsworth said.