Cayman says reinsurance market is booming – The Royal Gazette

Created: April 22, 2024 7:45 AM

The first (Re)Connect reinsurance conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman (file photo)

Executives who promote the Cayman Islands as “one of the fastest growing reinsurance locations in the world” cite the “unparalleled” quality of life there as one reason.

In an AM Best TV interview, they talked about their hopes for qualified jurisdiction status in the US and how regulators in the Cayman Islands can help companies even with the technological changes in the insurance industry brought about by artificial intelligence.

The Cayman Market last week launched what is planned as an annual reinsurance conference at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, an event they believe will ensure the island’s emergence as a major reinsurance market.

The (Re)Connect reinsurance conference was expected to attract about 400 delegates, including about 160 visitors, according to the Cayman International Reinsurance Companies Association, an organization formed three years ago to promote the growth of reinsurance.

An article in Cayman Finance states that reinsurance on the islands is growing explosively.

The Cayman Islands has eight Class D reinsurers with a physical presence and at least 80 captive reinsurers with a Class B (iii) license. Last year, Cayman’s regulator issued 41 international insurance licenses, the most in a decade, driven in part by the growing reinsurance sector.

The Circa event on Thursday and Friday featured life, annuity and non-life reinsurers already on the island. The conference aims to grow that business and also focus on the insurtech business.

Cayman is primarily pursuing U.S. business and monitoring U.S. concerns about adequate asset testing for ceded reserves.

Circa said the Cayman Islands financial services sector is valued at approximately $5 trillion, with 680 international insurance licenses. The association said the jurisdiction has attracted 50 reinsurers and $25 billion in reinsurer asset growth over the past three years.

Circa Chairman David Self and Marketing Committee Chairman Steve Papciak recently told AM Best TV interviewer Lori Chordas that Cayman has been making waves in reinsurance circles and that the conference was a good way to showcase what they had to offer.

Cayman already hosts the largest captive domicile conference in the world and is home to one of the largest fund industries.

Mr. Papciak said: “Reinsurance is still growing and (Cayman is) one of the fastest growing reinsurance establishments in the world and people are wondering why.”

Mr Self said the strategic focus on US business: “allows us to focus sharply on the demands of the US-based companies that want to come here and means we don’t have to worry about other jurisdictions ”.

But he also said: “The quality of life in Cayman is second to none. We have a simple work permit procedure to get to the island.

“There is a path to citizenship in Cayman. There is real estate available. You can buy a house. It is a wonderful place to live, good schools for the children.”

Mr Papciak said: “The regulator here, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, is cautious and risk-based.

“And what you’re seeing in the insurtech industry is new risks emerging that some of the previous rules-based regimes may not have been fully equipped for or fully tailored to address.

“So if you have a risk-based regime that can respond nimbly, quickly and, importantly, robustly to these new emerging risks, which I think are really hallmarks of the insurtech industry, then it really is a perfect fit.”