Bermuda licensed 19 new captive (re)insurance companies last year, an increase on the 17 captives licensed in 2017, according to figures from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).
The increase in formations is impressive due to the difficult market conditions, which have seen many domiciles report reduced growth in 2018.
BMA statistics showed that there was a year-on-year increase in total (re)insurance registrations in the domicile, up to 75 in 2018 from 58 in 2017.
The largest growth was in the commercial (re)insurance market, where there were 28 new registrations, in comparison to the 17 in 2017.
The number of special purpose insurers also increased year-on-year, from 24 in 2017 to 28 in 2018, a growth which Craig Swan, managing director of supervision (insurance) at BMA, said was not surprising due to the domicile’s strength in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.
Swan commented: “Bermuda remained the leading jurisdiction for the issuance of insurance-linked securities in 2018, so, it was not a surprise that registrations of special purpose insurers increased year-on-year.”
“The BMA’s 2018 (re)insurance registrations tell a very positive story about the health of Bermuda’s (re)insurance market.”
“We have seen growth in the long term (re)insurance space. The BMA registered 15 new long term (re)insurers in 2018, compared to six registered in 2017.”
