The Canadian and Cayman Islands insurance markets are made for each other

August 26, 2014 – GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman–(BUSINESS WIRE)–So says representatives from the Insurance Managers Association of Cayman, who have been going regularly to Canada to discuss the advantages of captive structures in general and the benefits of Cayman as a domicile with business owners and executives there. The group, comprising Bill Messer of Managing Director of Five Continents and Maggie Papadopoulos, Senior Account Manager at Aon Risk Solutions, is on the road again next month, attending RIMS Canada in Winnipeg, 14 – 17 September, 2014. A larger group was also present at the annual Canadian Captive Conference, held in Calgary 28 – 29 May, 2014.

They report that Canadian business owners and executives are looking more carefully at captive insurance structures, particularly in the oil and gas, shipping or other heavy industrial companies and 2013 saw healthy mid-market growth in captives. Captives are useful structures for diversifying a company’s business operation and income stream and keeping those revenues in house, rather than paying them out to the commercial underwriter.

The traditional use for American captives are not likely as appealing to the Canadian company, as the Canadian business environment is less litigious and there are already universal healthcare and worker’s compensation programmes. However, Canadian companies are using captive insurance for more innovative purposes such as terrorism threats, environmental pollution, warranty risk and premium or secondary healthcare coverage.

IMAC Chairperson Rob Leadbetter reiterated the reasons for the great synergies between Canada and Cayman for captive insurance: “In addition to the tax information exchange agreement that Cayman has with Canada, which helps Canadian companies take advantage of the same cost effective tax strategies as would be applicable for companies domiciled in Barbados under that double tax treaty, Cayman also offers the effective use of segregated portfolio companies and the newly launched portfolio insurance companies. We are excited to be working with Canadian captives as they tend to really think outside of the box when considering business to put in the captive and it is this kind of innovation that we, as a domicile, thrive on.”

Cayman is home to 764 captives, making it the second-largest domicile. This strength comes from a 40 year history of development of the captive insurance industry and of providing quality infrastructure and service to captive owners.

Insurance Managers Association of Cayman (IMAC) is a non-profit organisation run by the insurance managers of the Cayman Islands. In operation since 1981, IMAC’s aim is to act as both regulatory liaison with the Cayman Islands Government and to promote the Cayman Islands as a domicile of choice for captive insurance companies.

IMAC hosts the world’s largest captive insurance conference, attracting nearly 1,300 captive managers, service providers and directors annually.

For more information on IMAC visit www.caymancaptive.ky