27 March 2017Analysis

LatAm entities could benefit from setting up Bermuda captive


Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) is hosting a series of executive forums in Santiago, Chile and Lima on the value of Bermuda-based captive insurance.

The forums will be geared to financial executives, risk managers and family-office advisers, and are part of Bermuda’s regional outreach to Latin America.

“Chile and Peru are home to many large and medium-sized corporations with sophisticated risk managers and an excellent understanding of their insurance risk,” said Janita Burke, client director for Estera.

“These entities can benefit from establishing and operating a Bermuda captive—a risk-management tool that has been highly beneficial to their counterpart corporations in the United States for decades. Along with my fellow industry colleagues, I hope to convey the virtues of Bermuda and demonstrate how a Bermuda-based captive could be profitable to their business.”

Bermuda has almost 800 companies generating over $55 billion in annual gross written premiums.

BDA suggests that the presence of commercial insurance and reinsurance companies on the island allows captive owners and operators to access open-market underwriting capacity not found in other captive domiciles.

“Bermuda has seen encouraging interest from the Latin American market, with the establishment of three new Latin captive insurers out of Chile, Colombia and Mexico in 2016,” said Jereme Ramsay, BDA Business Development Manager.

“Our delegation will continue to educate industry partners in the region and look to connect businesses with our local stakeholders. This collaboration between Bermuda’s public/private sector significantly enhances opportunities for new business leads for our captive insurance market.”

The event will be held Tuesday, March 28 at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago and Thursday, March 30 at the Westin Lima Hotel & Convention Center.

Bermuda-based participants in the roadshow include Burke; Andres Carmona of Marsh; Alejandra Castano of JLT Insurance Management; Daniel Message of EY; and Giulianna Molero Solari of PwC.

Additional regional partners include Andres Alcalde and Juan Pablo Cuartas of Marsh; consultant Eduardo Escaffi; Rodrigo Hernandez of PwC; Jose Ignacio Lathrop and Juan Felipe Londoño of JLT; Khaled Luyo of KPMG; and Alvaro Ortiz of Charles Taylor.

“I am honoured to be part of this initiative to promote insurance captives as powerful vehicles for comprehensive risk coverage and financial efficiency,” said Castano.

“We’ll be highlighting Bermuda as the leading domicile in captive insurance services, and our Bermuda professionals will be able to provide valuable information based on their deep industry experience.”