A captive is an insurance company that is set up and owned by a non-insurance company to act as a direct insurer or reinsurer for the parent company and its subsidiaries. Risk share arrangements similar to the captive concept have existed for over 100 years, but true captives date from the late 1950s, developed by property engineer, Frederic Reiss, with the first captive insurance company established in Bermuda shortly afterwards.
How many captives are there?
6,000
There are around 6,000 captives around the world
1,000
That’s up from just 1,000 in 1980
20%
We’ve seen a 20% growth in captives over the last decade
70+
More than 70 jurisdictions now have some form of captive legislation
50+%
of captives are in the United States
3
Three jurisdictions – Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Vermont – are home to around a third of all captives globally.
Where are the top captive domiciles?
This map highlights the locations of 25 of the top domiciles around the globe*
*Captive numbers compiled by Business Insurance, Captive Insurance Special Report. March 2022 edition. Ranked by the number of captive licenses at year-end 2021. Numbers do not include microcaptives, series captives, or individual cells or cell members in protected cell companies.
Additional source: Statista
In which regions are the most captives?
50+%
United States
30+%
Offshore North America
10+%
Europe
3%
Asia Pacific
<1%
Africa
Based on captive licenses as of year-end 2021
News & insights around Captives
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