Bermuda sees jump in captive numbers

Seventeen new captive insurance companies were registered in Bermuda in 2017, compared to 13 in 2016, according to the latest release from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).

This takes the total number of active captive insurance licences on the BMA’s register to 739, as of the 31st December 2017.

"The majority of the new captives originated in the US but they also came from Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America," said Jeremy Cox, chief executive officer of the BMA. "Both Latin America and Canada have benefited from the business development efforts of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) and we have accordingly seen heightened interest from those regions."

According to the BMA new 2017 captives covered a diverse range of risks, particularly among the Class 1 captives which experienced significant growth year-on-year (12 new Class 1’s were registered in 2017 compared to four in 2016.) In terms of the types of business being written, the new Class 1’s covered a diverse range of risks, from Canadian conglomerates writing general liability and workers compensation, to US healthcare captives insuring nursing homes and medical stop loss cover for employees.

"The BMA takes the role of gatekeeper to Bermuda’s (re)insurance market very seriously and every application undergoes intense scrutiny. As supervisor, it is our job to ensure that Bermuda’s outstanding reputation as a financial services centre remains intact," Cox added. "Bermuda remains the world’s leader for captive formations, it’s not about the number of captives on the Bermuda register; it’s about the quality of the business being conducted here. That’s the Bermuda brand and the BMA will continue to apply the regulation needed to protect it."

Net premiums written by Bermuda’s captives amounted to $54.7 billion, compared with $55.3 billion year on-year.