Bermuda BDA
With 740 active captives at the end of last year, Jereme Ramsay of the Bermuda BDA suggests that Q1 2018 has already been extremely attractive
As the largest captive domicile, do you think Bermuda has a responsibility to be an industry leader when it comes to hot topics, such as emerging technologies and climate change?
Yes, absolutely. We are the world leader—at year-end 2017, we had 740 active captives and many of those represent Fortune 500 or 1000 companies. Innovation has always driven the Bermuda market, and we’re always talking to existing captive owners about how to expand and grow their captives.
With regards to cyber, we are starting to see captive owners funding cyber programmes through their captives, which is very forward-thinking. These are large, significant captives that are branching out into cyber, healthcare and employee benefits. We are just scratching the surface with cyber, but it’s a line of business we are starting to have more conversations about.
Being in such an innovative environment, we are able to foster a fruitful exchange with existing captive owners and highlight what we can offer to prospective captive owners. As a leading captive domicile, it is very much on our shoulders to ensure we remain cutting-edge, that we are pushing the envelope as far as what types of business should be placed in a captive. To be able to facilitate conversations at the Bermuda Captive Conference about thought leadership and innovation is something we feel strongly about as a leading captive domicile.
Bermuda has sent delegations to Canada and New York recently. Is reaching out to new/emerging domiciles important to the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA)?
The US is our key market, so we work hard to facilitate an environment where there can be educational forums targeting financial executives, brokers, and risk managers, and where our industry experts can collaborate to explain the benefits of setting up a captive structure and the benefits of Bermuda.
Our BDA forums look at captives as risk-management tools and we highlight the benefits of the captive solution. We identify why Bermuda makes sense as a domicile, not just because it is the largest, but because we have the expertise, the regulatory environment, and the blue-chip reputation. All great reasons for captive owners to choose our domicile.
Why are these events important?
About four years ago when I joined the BDA, we were attending many conferences, but it made sense to develop that strategy and create our own forums that we could customise and that would allow a level of exclusivity. We were able to target gateway and regional cities with a brokerage community that needed more familiarity with the captive structure.
The events have really worked well, and they’ve translated into real business for us. When you have competing firms working together to raise the profile of a jurisdiction, that really speaks to the strength of the Bermuda market, and you don’t see it with other domiciles.
We will continue to host these roadshows, because we’re having really strong exchanges at our events including valuable one-on-one engagement.
These educational roadshows set up opportunities to talk to new players, such as the middle-market that has a growing interest in captives. Just to see that evolution or progression, from the initial conversation to actually setting up a captive in Bermuda, is extremely gratifying for the BDA as well our industry stakeholders. Our initiatives are working and translating to new business, which ultimately means new jobs.
In the risk space last year, we generated 61 new jobs and that’s exciting for us because our mandate is to grow the market and job creation. So, we are hitting on every cylinder in that space.
Ahead, I think we have a really strong 2018, based on ensuring we connect prospective clients with our industry partners and leaving it to them to drive the conversation. We are really grateful to our stakeholders for their collaboration and leadership. Having competing firms in the same room talking about Bermuda really tells a story about the partnership and collaboration in the Bermuda market, and that’s what helps drive innovation and more business for this island.
The domicile has tried to position itself as the world’s first regulated hub for blockchain business, how do you think this will impact the captive insurance market?
I believe technology touches the entire market. Here at the BDA, we have five different pillars: risk solutions, asset management, high-net-worth services, emerging technologies, and economic diversification. There is a common theme across all these areas, and it’s that technology and blockchain are coming to the forefront of every industry. Bermuda is a domicile for innovation, so it’s a natural evolution. This is the next chapter and I think everyone is embracing this change; it’s great that it’s all happening here in Bermuda.
What does that look like for the captive industry, specifically? I think that conversation is still evolving, but it’s great that the leadership of insurance managers, brokers, and reinsurers are all having that conversation.
How has H1 2018 been for the BDA?
We have had a fantastic year, specifically through the captive lens. The World Captive Forum kicks off the captive season, and it’s always a great opportunity to go to Florida and meet with US and Latin American partners. It really sets the pace for the rest of the year from a business perspective.
On the heels of the 2017 figures, we have a phenomenal year of new captives setting up in Bermuda, and Q1 has already been extremely attractive—we had four new captive formations. Q1 is always a telling story, and it sets the pace for what’s to come.
We are very optimistic about what this year is going to offer; we are definitely surpassing some benchmarks we set for last year. Specific to the captive arena, I’ve heard there are multiple entities in the pipeline. Things are looking pretty healthy.
What are you most looking forward to heading into the conference?
It is always great to see the exchange between existing captive and prospective clients—talking about setting up a captive, the process, advantages, pitfalls, things to avoid, and also innovation. I think the agenda at the Bermuda Captive Conference reflects a lot of innovation and diversity of risk, products and talent.
What I’m looking forward to most is the Captive Hall of Fame, which highlights captive owners or captives that have been in the Bermuda marketplace for 25 years.
There is also a Lifetime Achievement Award that is presented annually to someone who has had a significant impact on the Bermuda market and has been a trailblazer of change and innovation.
Also, things are going to be changing this year, with the final reception shifting to a new location and some new panels and discussions. This year, we will be highlighting diversity and discussing innovation in the captive industry.
