Authored by Ricardo Knight, President & CEO, JLT Barbados
and Kirk Cyrus, Executive Vice President, JLT Barbados
The total number of captives worldwide was 6,618 at 31 December
2016, of which 3,192 (48%) are registered in the United States,
2,417 (37%) in Bermuda and the Caribbean, 841 (13%) in Europe and
148 (2%) in Asia Pacific, according to the May 2017 edition of
'Captive Review' magazine in their annual publication on
domiciles and captive statistics.
A captive, like every insurer, benefits from diversification of
its portfolio, but operates more efficiently than the insurance
market for primary risk layers. These are the low severity,
medium-to-high frequency losses, with typical savings as much as
25%, depending on the type of risk. It is now commonplace for
captives to participate in varied global programmes and lines,
including property, damage and non-damage business interruption;
recall, products and general liability; environmental
