5 Key Take-Aways from CICA Cayman Conference. 

The captive insurance industry plays a significant role in the economy of leading jurisdictions. In the Cayman Islands, it contributes over $300 million annually, supported by a direct workforce of just 250 individuals. Globally, over 6,000 captives handle more than $200 billion, representing only 3% of the broader insurance market. However, with captives growing three times faster than traditional insurance, this share is set to expand rapidly. A mature and mainstream international captive owner base is now using multiple jurisdictions to manage emerging risks more effectively.  

My 5 Takeaways 

Easier Financing with Captives 

• When businesses have captive structures in place to effectively and efficiently manage risk, it is considered very positively by potential investors looking for downside risk mitigation. 

• Homeowners associations. Landlords & property managers are realizing that they can set up captives to provide property insurance to their home owners without having a big insurance company in the middle. Huge growth in this at the moment and a real opportunity for the Turks & Caicos Islands given the incredible growth in its high-end Real Estate market. 

InsurTech as a disrupter 

• Is the use of innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, and machine learning, impacting the captive insurance industry? 

• It is most likely that innovative InsurTech firms will be partners with existing industry players, and will help captive owners decide what risks to retain in a captive and what to transfer to a reinsurer. 

• Predictive modelling has been incredibly successful for knowing where claims might come from and, combined with complex parametrics, allows the almost surgical breakdown and assessment of risk without prohibitive cost. 

Current Trends in Captives 

• Cyber Cat Bonds. With cyber insurance and reinsurance a growing class of business, the market has turned to the capital markets and the cat bond structure for protection, with now a number of cyber cat bond deals issued and growing interest in cyber catastrophe bonds from investors as well. 

• P&C (property and casualty) is biggest risk in captives (42%), with directors and officers liability showing strong growth. Property and business specific risks eg sexual misconduct, criminal misconduct also increasing. 

• Cyber – what is it that I want to put in my captive, what is the risk to my business – in-depth analytics targeted to your business. This is what makes Cyber risk ideal for captives as the risk may be unique to each business. 

What makes a good Captive jurisdiction? 

• Risk Advisory is key to a jurisdiction for captive owners balancing timeframe, expense, and opportunity cost. 

• To be successful a jurisdiction must have a broad professional services sector with interest, knowledge, experience and reputation. 

• Talent Pool is becoming an increasingly important factor. Insurance as a career path is not one that youngsters are aware of, and education needs to be earlier and more deliberate. 

• Succession planning is a key challenge that many companies are facing now across the insurance industry particularly in the Caribbean region. 

Crypto, Web 3, and the future of Captives  

• Blockchain, tokenization, and decentralized finance (DeFi) are starting to influence captives, creating opportunities for new risk structures. 

• Smart contracts can automate claims processing and improve transparency in captive operations. 

• Tokenized risk pools and crypto-backed insurance are gaining traction, particularly in jurisdictions open to fintech innovation. 

• As digital assets grow in adoption, captives will become an essential tool for managing risks in Web3 businesses. 

Turks and Caicos has a real opportunity to establish itself in the evolving insurance landscape. The demand for flexible risk management solutions is growing, and captives offer businesses greater control. By embracing digital assets, Web3 insurance, and InsurTech, TCI can refine risk analysis, improve financing options for property owners, and build a regulatory framework that attracts global interest.