Bruno Callaghan, managing director, Willis Management (Gibraltar)
Callaghan outlined the different types of captive, including single parent and group or association.
He said there are more than 30 captives currently operating on the Rock. In terms of captives, Callaghan thought Gibraltar's advantage lay in its ability "to complement the offerings of existing captive domiciles in the US and Europe, such as Luxembourg, plus the offshore domiciles of the Isle of Man and Guernsey, which are unable to provide admitted insurance policies directly into Europe, or which have, and continue to have, the necessary of using an insurer to provide local admitted paper."
Callaghan predicted that captives would increasingly "compete with traditional insurers". He said: "A percentage of the risk is generally transferred by way of reinsurance and can be transferred back to the original insurer or captive in any other domicile."
He also highlighted the ability of captives to eliminate fronting costs and letters of credit, as well as providing "direct access to the reinsurance market at a wholesale price and state reinsurance pools for terrorism and catastrophe cover".
