A few folks emailed me after the article last week to ask where they could find specific information on carrier captive use. The quick answer is that it’s in the Carrier Data Analysis section of The Life Product Review under “Affiliated Reinsurance.” Each CDA has commentary on captive reinsurance use and the Carrier Data Grid will allow you to compare companies side by side. The longer answer, however, is that the way to really understand how carriers operate and to put things like captives into full context is to read the statutory filing itself. A full filing can easy break 300 pages and is loaded with terms that aren’t part of the normal insurance vernacular. Reading one is intimidating but worthwhile. I get questions all the time that can be answered either directly or with a little bit of massaging from a statutory filing. So with that in mind, here’s my quick and dirty guide to reading a filing to find the most salient information.