South Carolina DOI Names Noga, Formerly With GuideOne, as Captives Director

The South Carolina Department of Insurance named Andy Noga, formerly CEO and general counsel of GuideOne Insurance Group, as director of captives, underscoring the state’s commitment to fostering captive insurance companies, the DOI said Wednesday.

“We focused on identifying a new director with exceptional experience and ability who will continue to grow our captives market with excellence. Our search has paid off,” SCDOI Director Michael Wise said.

“I am excited to join the SCDOI and to contribute to its stellar reputation as a home for quality captive insurers,” Noga said in the announcement. “I look forward to meeting and working with everyone associated with the captive programs.”

Noga has 30 years of experience as well as a master’s degree in law from the University of Connecticut. But his time at Iowa-based GuideOne, a specialty insurer for schools and churches, was not without controversy.

In 2022, a former senior vice president at the company, Mark Groenheide, accused Noga of sexual discrimination due to Groenheide’s sexual orientation. He said in a federal EEOC complaint that Noga called him derogatory names and caused his termination from the insurer, according to news reports. A second vice president make similar accusations in 2022, the USA Herald reported.

GuideOne said at the time that Groenheide’s discrimination claims were unfounded and that Groenheide had been investigated for other reasons, including failing to secure reinsurance on some accounts. Noga was later asked to step down as acting CEO at GuideOne but remained general counsel until late last year.

The SCDOI said in a statement that the complaints were unsubstantiated, and no civil rights agency had found that Noga engaged in discrimination.

“The department has no concerns,” said Diane Cooper, the DOI’s deputy director of consumer and external affairs said.

Noga does have some experience with captives, Cooper noted.

“While serving as general counsel, Andy worked with a well-known captive manager to arrange for a reinsurance captive, drawing up necessary contracts and participating in appropriate analysis,” she said.

He also has done feasibility studies for the prospective formation of captives.

Topics South Carolina