Surplus Line Association of California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
940912095
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2023
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
San Ramon, CA, USA
Phone
(415) 434-4900
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$35,815,570
Expenses
$30,898,115
Assets
$61,889,711
Liabilities
$5,841,306

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BENJAMIN MCKAY (CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BENJAMIN MCKAY (CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $1,202,017 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL CATUREGLI (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ANALYSIS OFFICER): $375,160 total reported compensation
  • BARBARA TRUMBLY (SENIOR VP, OPERATIONS & EVENTS): $366,611 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Surplus Line Association of California provides regulatory compliance, education, and industry data to surplus line brokers, insurers, and filers operating in the California non-admitted insurance market. It facilitates the stamping and filing of surplus line policies, distributes premium and market trend reports, and offers training through its Introduction to Surplus Lines program.

What it reported doing in 2023

The sla consists of 7,226 members (resident & non-resident). The sla offers a number of educational services to meet the needs of our brokers. During this period, we offered 12 live ce courses and issued 1,177 live ce certificates and 25 on-demand ce courses and 789 on-demand ce certificates. Topics focused on current and emerging trends and were facilitated by insurance experts and professional trainers. Our live courses included a live q&a and were filmed and converted into on-demand courses for brokers unable to join the live session. In addition to our ce courses, we continued to produce a live webinar series called compliance connections which addresses various compliance topics that share valuable information on California laws and regulations. We had 695 member attendees join sessions on topics that included information on the export list and an overview of the new diligent search report. All webinars provided a live q&a and are posted in the learning center for on-demand reference. We also offered customized training to meet individual member needs that cover surplus line insurance regulation, the surplus line filing process, use of the slip portal, and how to effectively manage and resolve deficiencies (tags) as well as an introduction to California surplus line regulation. Business entities are required to provide this two-hour training to all employees who solicit, negotiate, or effect surplus line insurance. The sla is responsible for the development and delivery of this content and in this period, we issued 957 certificates to business entity employees.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 23 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.