The share of risk managers reporting that their organisation uses a captive or similar vehicle has fallen by 10 percentage points in two years, to 27 per cent from 37 per cent in 2024, according to the Global Risk Manager Survey Report 2026 published by the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA). A further 9 per cent say they are considering implementing the solution, against 10 per cent two years ago. Under a heading stating that captives remain relevant despite lower reported usage, FERMA states that the proportion planning to use a captive or similar vehicle remains broadly stable, suggesting that captives continue to be considered a relevant risk transfer solution but that organisations may be adopting a more selective approach, focusing on existing structures or specific risk financing needs rather than expanding captive use systematically. The survey, produced with PwC, drew 1,329 respondents across 79 countries and was published on 5 October. It has run every two years since 2002 and has been global in scope since 2024, having previously been distributed only in Europe. Captives also slip as a forward plan. Asked which strategies they intend to use for the financing of risks over the next two years, 56 per cent of respondents select risk retention, 31 per cent the use of an existing captive, 23 per cent the use of alternative risk transfer vehicles such as protected cell companies or structured coverages, 15 per cent parametrics, 14 per cent the creation of a captive insurance or reinsurance company, 13 per cent another strategy and 11 per cent mutualisation through pooling or sharing with other companies. Every option for which the report gives a 2024 comparative is down. Risk retention stood at 62 per cent in 2024 and 73 per cent in 2022. The use of an existing captive was 35 per cent in 2024 and alternative risk transfer vehicles 28 per cent, falls FERMA puts at four to five percentage points each. Parametrics was 19 per cent and the creation of a new captive insurance or reinsurance company 17 per cent. FERMA states that the continued prominence of existing captives and alternative risk transfer vehicles, despite the decrease, illustrates the search for more flexible and tailored risk financing mechanisms, and that these solutions allow organisations to manage volatility, access capacity for difficult-to-place risks and better align risk financing with their own risk appetite. On the 14 per cent intending to create a new vehicle, the report states that while captives remain strategically important, organisations may be prioritising the optimisation of existing vehicles over the establishment of new structures. Over the past 12 months, implementation or further use of captive facilities was cited by 17 per cent of respondents as a change made to their insurance strategy, down 11 percentage points, which FERMA says suggests a more selective use of captive solutions compared with previous survey editions. Changes to the insurance buying pattern led the list at 43 per cent, followed by buying higher limits at 36 per cent, negotiating a long-term agreement or roll-over at 34 per cent, strengthening loss prevention activity at 31 per cent, no change made at 23 per cent and higher self-insured retention at 22 per cent. Respondents currently using a captive were asked how they expect its involvement to evolve by line of cover over the next two years. Property and business interruption leads at 42 per cent, followed by general and products liability at 29 per cent, cyber at 27 per cent and supply chain or non-damage business interruption at 20 per cent. The report states that these are the same four main lines as in 2024, and that captives are increasingly being considered not only for traditional property and liability exposures but also for more complex and potentially constrained lines such as cyber and supply-chain-related business interruption. Sectoral differences are visible. FERMA reports that financial services and industry show broadly comparable patterns, while in the services sector supply chain cover is replaced among the leading lines by employee benefits at 29 per cent and motor and automobile liability at 24 per cent. In the public sector, directors and officers liability and construction and engineering follow property and business interruption, both at 29 per cent, with geopolitical risk and professional indemnity completing the top five at 24 per cent. The report also breaks captive use down by region. It states that captive use is highest in Africa, where 33 per cent of respondents’ organisations already use one, followed by Oceania at 31 per cent, North America at 26 per cent and Asia at 22 per cent. No respondent in South America currently reports using a captive, although 9 per cent indicate plans to do so. Planned adoption is also reported in North America at 13 per cent and Africa at 8 per cent, while no respondent in Oceania or Asia indicates plans to implement one. Those regional figures rest on small samples and FERMA says so directly. Europe accounts for 78 per cent of all responses, against 12 per cent for North America, 3 per cent each for South America and Africa and 2 per cent each for Asia and Oceania. The accompanying country data files put the respondent count at 154 for North America, 34 for South America, 32 for Africa, 25 for Asia and 22 for Oceania. The report states that the comparatively lower number of respondents from other regions, including Africa, South America, Asia and Oceania, limits the ability to draw robust conclusions by geography, and that global results are mainly driven by Europe. The report gives no captive usage figure for Europe. FERMA concludes that the regional results suggest future captive development remains concentrated in a limited number of regions and may depend on market maturity, organisational size, regulatory context and the ability to justify the cost and governance requirements associated with captive structures. The findings sit against an insurance market the report describes as gradually entering a phase of normalisation, with increased capacity and competition leading to significant premium reductions in certain lines and for well-managed risks, alongside broader improvements in coverage and terms, while underwriting discipline remains strong. Premium increases remain the most impactful trend of the past 12 months, as in 2024, followed by the exclusion of specific risks and then wording changes, which enter the top three from fourth place in 2024. Pessimism about the limits of the commercial market has eased sharply. The report states that 37 per cent of insurance managers think the risks of their business activities or locations will become uninsurable in the near future, down 16 percentage points from 53 per cent in 2024. Among those who do, 48 per cent identify physical risks related to climate change as the area most likely to face a withdrawal of insurance capacity, against 73 per cent in 2024, and 40 per cent cyber-attacks, against 55 per cent. FERMA collected the data through an anonymous web-based survey distributed via its member associations, risk management associations in other regions and the PwC global network between January and April 2026. The questionnaire ran to 48 questions across nine categories. The 1,329 respondents compare with 1,041 from 77 countries in 2024, an increase of 28 per cent. Seven associations partnered on the survey alongside PwC: ALARYS, Club FrancoRisk, IFRIMA, IRMSA, PARIMA, RIMS and RMIA. By profile, 48 per cent of respondents are enterprise risk management profiles, 22 per cent insurance management profiles and 30 per cent mixed. The report states that some questions were triggered by responses to previous questions and that some were optional, so the number of respondents varies from one question to another. The full report is available on the FERMA website.
