Bermuda’s captive advantage: why the island remains the industry’s global crossroads

As the Bermuda Captive Conference approaches, Séadna Kirwan, chair of the event and managing director at Aon, explains to Captive Review why the island continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the captive world.

For more than six decades, Bermuda has occupied a unique place in the global insurance industry. The island’s reputation as a centre for captives, reinsurance and specialist risk transfer has long been established, but as the sector evolves amid regulatory change, tax reform and shifting market demands, Bermuda is once again making the case for its relevance.

According to Kirwan, managing director at Aon and chair of the upcoming 2026 Bermuda Captive Conference, the island’s enduring strength lies not only in its history, but in the concentration of expertise, collaboration and infrastructure that continues to define the jurisdiction.

He describes Bermuda as “the home of the captives”, a title rooted in more than 60 years of captive insurance activity on the island. While the pace of new captive formations might not match the growth rates seen during earlier periods of expansion, he argues that Bermuda’s captive market remains both sizeable and sophisticated.

“We have over 600 limited purpose insurers here in Bermuda writing significant premium,” Kirwan says, emphasising that the market remains “very robust and vibrant”.

Rather than focus purely on volume growth, Kirwan believes the market is evolving towards greater complexity and scale. Larger captives, he says, are increasingly expanding the scope of what they do in Bermuda, using the jurisdiction for broader and more integrated programmes, including a growing focus on employee benefit risk and more recently pensions.

That evolution reflects wider changes across the insurance landscape. Captives are no longer viewed solely as vehicles for basic risk retention. Increasingly, they are becoming strategic financial tools that allow organisations to access reinsurance markets, manage volatility and develop more tailored approaches to emerging risks.

For Bermuda, this trend plays directly into one of its long-standing advantages: the ability to bring together the full spectrum of insurance and risk-transfer expertise within a single jurisdiction.

The world’s risk capital

Kirwan characterises Bermuda as the “third biggest insurance jurisdiction in the world” and describes it as “the world’s risk capital”. The claim is tied not simply to the scale of the market, but to the concentration of capabilities available on the island.

In Bermuda’s 22 square miles, companies can access captive insurers, primary carriers, excess markets, reinsurers and alternative capital providers, including insurance-linked securities funds. More recently, the jurisdiction has also strengthened its position in life insurance.

For Kirwan, that breadth is central to Bermuda’s appeal.

“It’s one of the only places in the world where, if you think about the entire insurance value proposition, we have access to it all here within 22 square miles,” he explains.

That ecosystem has been built over decades and is supported by a deep concentration of specialist expertise. Insurers, brokers, captive managers, lawyers, accountants and consultants all operate within close proximity, creating an environment where technical knowledge and decision-making are highly interconnected.

Kirwan points to this infrastructure and history as one of Bermuda’s defining competitive strengths. The island’s insurance market has matured over generations, producing a business culture where insurance is deeply embedded across the economy.

Yet Bermuda’s appeal is not simply about geography or industry density. Kirwan repeatedly returns to the idea of collaboration as the jurisdiction’s defining characteristic.

The three-legged stool

At the centre of Kirwan’s assessment is what he calls Bermuda’s “three-legged stool”: the close working relationship between industry, government and regulator.

According to him, Bermuda’s success has depended on the ability of these three groups to work in concert, particularly during periods of major regulatory or structural change.

“We don’t live in a utopia,” he says, “but [they] work incredibly closely together.”

That collaboration, he argues, has allowed Bermuda to navigate developments that might otherwise have destabilised the captive sector.

One example is the island’s response to Solvency II equivalency. Roughly a decade ago, Bermuda faced the challenge of aligning with evolving European regulatory standards while protecting the interests of its captive insurance market.

Kirwan says the Bermuda Monetary Authority, working closely with both industry and government, managed to achieve a bifurcated regulatory structure. Under this framework, Bermuda secured Solvency II equivalency for its commercial insurance regime while preserving a separate carve-out for limited-purpose insurers.

For the captive sector, that distinction proved critical.

Kirwan describes the outcome as one of the clearest examples of Bermuda’s collaborative approach in action. At the time, he says, Bermuda was among the very few jurisdictions able to achieve such a bifurcated regime.

The approach reflected a broader determination to preserve Bermuda’s attractiveness as a captive domicile while still meeting international regulatory expectations.

“That’s a great example of how the BMA and government were very focused on protecting the captive regime here in Bermuda, and ultimately helping it thrive,” he says.

The same collaborative model, Kirwan argues, has shaped Bermuda’s more recent approach to corporate income tax.

Responding to global tax reform

The introduction of corporate income tax represented a major shift for Bermuda, a jurisdiction historically associated with a tax-neutral framework. Yet Kirwan says the transition was managed pragmatically and in consultation with the market.

As global tax standards evolved, Bermuda recognised the need to align itself with emerging international expectations.

“We think Bermuda, as a premier global jurisdiction, needs to be compliant with the global tax rules,” Kirwan says.

Rather than resisting the shift, Bermuda’s government and industry sought to design a framework that balanced compliance with competitiveness.

According to Kirwan, the process involved extensive consultation between government and market participants, resulting in what he views as a “very appropriate and rational outcome”.

Importantly, he rejects suggestions that the introduction of corporate income tax would undermine Bermuda’s insurance market.

“There was a lot of doomsdayers out there saying once this happens, everything’s going to change,” he says. “And it hasn’t.”

Indeed, Kirwan suggests the opposite might be occurring. In some cases, he says, companies are showing increased interest in forming entities in Bermuda specifically because of the jurisdiction’s robust and internationally aligned tax framework.

That response reflects a broader shift in how sophisticated insurance buyers and multinational companies evaluate domiciles. Increasingly, stability, transparency and regulatory credibility are becoming as important as traditional tax considerations.

Bermuda’s willingness to adapt to global standards while preserving the core strengths of its insurance ecosystem may therefore prove a competitive advantage rather than a liability.

The power of proximity

One of Bermuda’s more unusual advantages, according to Kirwan, is the physical closeness of its insurance community.

While many global financial centres rely heavily on remote interaction and dispersed networks, Bermuda’s market remains intensely concentrated.

“In this context, we’re really less than one square mile,” Kirwan says.

The practical implications of that concentration are significant. Brokers, insurers, regulators and government officials are often within walking distance of one another in Hamilton.

Kirwan believes this accessibility accelerates communication and helps the market respond quickly to emerging issues.

“One of our strengths is everyone’s here,” he says. “We can walk down the street and go see the regulator, speak directly with government, even go sit in the Premier’s office and give him our feedback.”

In an increasingly virtual post-pandemic business environment, Kirwan argues that face-to-face engagement remains highly valuable.

The ability to hold direct conversations, resolve issues quickly and maintain close working relationships contributes to Bermuda’s responsiveness as a market.

That proximity also reinforces the collaborative culture Kirwan repeatedly highlights. Regulatory consultations, policy discussions and market initiatives are easier to coordinate when the key participants operate within such a compact environment.

For international visitors, the concentration can be striking. Within a short walk through Hamilton, it is possible to pass many of the world’s leading insurance organisations, brokers and advisory firms.

Kirwan notes that firms across the market are effectively neighbours.

“Everyone is just a“Everyone is just a lunch walk [away],” he says.

A conference returning to its roots

That sense of proximity and community also underpins the Bermuda Captive Conference, which Kirwan will chair in 2026.

The event has long been one of the island’s flagship industry gatherings, drawing captive owners, managers, brokers, insurers and service providers from around the world.

Following disruption during the pandemic, the conference underwent several scheduling changes. Historically held in June, it moved to September after Covid due to logistical challenges and hotel availability.

According to Kirwan, however, the September timing created difficulties.

The conference clashed with other major insurance industry events and fell during the Atlantic hurricane season. In some instances, storms even disrupted conference proceedings.

Last year, organisers returned the event to its traditional June slot.

For Kirwan, the move proved highly successful.

The 2025 conference became the largest Bermuda captive event since the pandemic, attracting nearly 600 attendees alongside record sponsorship levels.

Organisers initially believed it would be difficult to surpass those numbers so soon.

Instead, momentum has continued to build.

As preparations advanced for the 2026 event, registration and sponsorship levels were already tracking ahead of the previous year’s performance.

“This is now officially going to be our biggest event since 2019,” Kirwan says.

The growth reflects renewed energy within the captive market, but also the enduring appeal of Bermuda itself as a meeting point for the global risk community.

A more focused agenda

The 2026 conference will also introduce structural changes designed to create more value for captive owners.

Traditionally, captive conferences can become heavily dominated by service providers, consultants and vendors. While those groups remain essential to the ecosystem, Kirwan says captive owners themselves increasingly want more opportunities for direct peer engagement.

To address that, the conference is expanding from two-and-a-half days to a full three-day programme.

The opening half-day will be reserved specifically for captive owners in a more closed-door setting.

The aim is to create space for candid discussion among peers about the challenges and opportunities facing captive programmes.

Kirwan says organisers consistently hear from captive owners that peer interaction is among the most valuable aspects of any industry event.

“Hearing from their peers is often where captive owners derive the greatest value,” he explains.

By carving out dedicated time for those conversations, organisers hope to deepen the conference’s practical relevance and strengthen engagement among decision-makers.

The approach also reflects wider changes in the captive sector itself. As captives take on more strategic roles within organisations, owners are increasingly looking for insight into how peers are managing areas such as volatility, emerging risks, programme expansion and governance.

In that context, the Bermuda conference is positioning itself not simply as a networking event, but as a forum for substantive industry dialogue.

Confidence in Bermuda’s future

Throughout Kirwan’s comments, one theme remains consistent: confidence in Bermuda’s long-term position.

The island faces many of the same pressures confronting other international financial centres, including regulatory scrutiny, tax reform and intensifying global competition. Yet Kirwan’s assessment suggests Bermuda believes its strengths are structural rather than temporary.

Its mature insurance infrastructure, concentration of expertise and collaborative operating model continue to differentiate the jurisdiction.

At the same time, Bermuda appears increasingly focused on evolution rather than preservation for its own sake. Whether through regulatory adaptation, tax reform or conference redesign, the emphasis is on remaining relevant to the changing needs of the global risk market.

For the captive sector specifically, Bermuda’s future might depend less on headline formation numbers and more on the sophistication and scale of the business being conducted there.

Kirwan’s observation that larger captives are “doing more” with their Bermuda programmes could ultimately prove more significant than raw growth statistics.

As companies face increasingly complex risks and seek more integrated approaches to financing them, jurisdictions capable of bringing together capital, expertise, regulation and innovation in one place are likely to retain a strategic advantage.

For Bermuda, that combination remains central to its identity.

More than 60 years after the island first emerged as a captive domicile, it continues to argue that nowhere else can match its density of insurance capability concentrated within such a small space.

And as the Bermuda Captive Conference prepares for what organisers expect to be its largest post-pandemic gathering yet, the message from the market is clear: Bermuda sees itself not as a legacy captive centre, but as an evolving hub for the future of global risk.

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