The Cayman Islands licensed 33 new captive insurance companies in 2018, equalling the same number of captives licensed in the domicile the year before, according to figures from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA).
CIMA’s statistics also revealed that 26 captive licenses were surrendered last year, a drop on the 48 that were surrendered in 2017.
Following a net growth of seven captives in 2018, there were 703 total active captives in the Cayman Islands as of 31 December 2018.
Additionally, the statistics showed that the total value of premiums in Cayman’s international insurance industry was $15.4 billion, up from $12.4 billion in 2017, and the total assets over $68.7 billion, up from $61 billion in 2017.
Erin Brosnihan, chair of the Insurance Managers Association Cayman, commented: “Strong figures in 2018 reinforce our move to the global communication platform ‘Cayman International Insurance’ last year.”
She continued: “As our domicile continues to evolve as a multi-pronged insurance industry, we too will continue to promote the Cayman Islands as the better alternative.”
“These Q4 results are promising, and we look forward to further growth this year.”
Brosnihan added that the 2018 figures do not include portfolio insurance companies, which would further increase the numbers, as they do not need to be separately licensed as an insurance company.