Today, it is estimated that almost 60% of the top 1000 US companies use captive insurance of some sort, underlining the significance of the sector, both for the insured companies as a means of transferring risk, and for the financial institutions and professional services firms that support the business.
Moreover, Roland ‘Andy’ Burrows, head of commercial banking at Bank of Bermuda, notes that the proportions are reversed when looking at the global picture: only just over 40% of the top 1500 companies worldwide cover their risks through captives, leaving significant scope for expansion. A new generation of major companies, sometimes based in countries with less developed insurance markets, is beginning to consider the option of setting up offshore captive insurance subsidiaries.
