New risks and old friends

Captive International reveals the results of a groundbreaking survey on attitudes towards Bermuda in the captive insurance industry.

Why do people choose to attend the Bermuda Captive Conference? That was one of the first questions we asked respondents to our latest survey on Bermuda and its captive insurance market.

The first question we asked for the Captive International survey was: ‘Why is attending conferences in person important for you?’. Applicants could choose multiple answers.

Eighty-two percent of respondents said it was to connect with new people and seek new clients; 29 percent said it was to negotiate with clients in relation to the year-end renewals; 59 percent said it was to reaffirm relationships with existing clients and 88 percent said it was to learn new things and gain an understanding of trends.

The next question was: ‘What will be the main talking points during the conference?’—again respondents could choose multiple answers. Forty-seven percent of respondents said one of the topics would be increased demand for captives. New risks and structures was the reason put forward by 76 percent of respondents and 71 percent said it was market conditions in the commercial markets; 23 percent said it was environmental social and corporate governance (ESG)-related issues and 53 percent said it was regulatory changes.

Fifty-three percent said the introduction of Corporate Income Tax on Bermuda and the same number, 53 percent, said the US election and any fallout. Twelve percent said accelerated digital advances and 29 percent said it was the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

Six percent of respondents said captive formations would increase significantly.

One respondent said that a topic of conversation would be navigating the Internal Revenue Service, while another pointed to legacy management and run-off transactions.

The next question asked if overall respondents thought that captive formations on Bermuda in the next year would increase significantly, increase moderately, or remain stable. There was a fourth option, fall moderately and a fifth option, fall significantly. No-one chose these last two options.

Six percent of respondents said captive formations would increase significantly. The other two options received the majority of votes—with 41 percent saying they would increase moderately and 53 percent saying that they would remain stable.

Formations

The survey asked companies considering forming a captive for the first time about their views. There were five options: bullish on using Bermuda and keen to press ahead; confident in using Bermuda but with questions; neutral and keen to learn; a little nervous and needing convincing; and very nervous and looking onshore.

No-one chose the option that they were ‘bullish on using Bermuda and keen to press ahead’. Instead the most chosen option was ‘neutral and keen to learn’ which was chosen by 59 percent of respondents. This was followed by ‘confident in using Bermuda but with questions’ which was chosen by 23 percent of respondents, with the remaining 18 percent choosing ‘a little nervous and needing convincing’. No-one chose ‘very nervous and looking onshore’.

This middle of the road attitude, with the most optimistic and most pessimistic options being effectively ignored, gives a unique insight into what is on the minds of many companies as they head towards this year’s Bermuda Captive Conference.

Why is attending conferences in person important for you?

What will be the main talking points during this conference?