Definition – Is Guernsey All About Captives?

Mark Helyar, a partner at Bedell Cristin, talked to Captive Review about Guernsey's uniquely undefined insurance market.

I don't know if I share this in common with readers, but I confess that I sometimes find it difficult to explain to people what I do for a living. That is not only because I am a lawyer.

Telling someone you are a lawyer can of course result in some quite extreme reactions depending on the audience and the circumstances, but happily less so these days than explaining you are a banker. However, if anyone has the stamina to continue with such a conversation, the minute I mention insurance, reinsurance, captives, insurance-linked securities or catastrophe (cat) bonds they glaze over as if I had gained the powers of a stage hypnotist.