New insurer formations reach new highs in Bermuda

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) registered the highest number of new insurance companies in almost a decade in 2022.

Some 84 new companies were registered in 2022, well above the 2021 total of 65, and the highest since 2014 when 93 were registered. The total last year was boosted by the addition of 15 insurers in December alone.

Of the 2022 total, 80 are insurers and four are intermediaries, the highest number of insurers since 2013, when 91 were added to the BMA’s books.

Nine Class E insurers — long-term insurers with more than $500 million in capital — were registered, as were nine Class A to C insurers, which are smaller long-term re/insurers.

The BMA also registered 16 Class 1 and Class 2 insurers, which are generally captives, along with 15 forms of Class 3 insurers and one Class 4 — Fortitude International Reinsurance — which are the heaviest capitalised of the non-life or long-term insurers. Four digital insurers were also registered.