Labuan IBFC remained the leading jurisdiction in Asia for captive formations in 2018, with six new formations over the year bringing its total number of captives to 48.
Farah Jaafar-Crossby, CEO of Labuan IBFC Inc., noted that the jurisdiction’s captive market growth outpaced other Asian hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
Globally, captive insurance growth has been on an upward trajectory, with more than 6,500 captives formed as end of 2017.
However, only 2% of these captives originate from Asia Pacific, meaning the Asian captives’ market still has a significant potential for growth.
“With the ever-changing global challenges and changes, the need for risk management tools such as captives and protected cell companies is on the uptick,” said Jaafar-Crossby.
“Labuan IBFC recorded continued growth in 2018, with 19.1% growth in insurance premiums, and total gross premiums for its captive insurance business showing an increase by 11% to USD400.5 million,” she explained.
Labuan IBFC also claims to offer Asia’s widest range of self-insurance structures aside from pure single captives, with structure offerings that include mutual and association captives, rent-a-captives as well as protected cell companies
Andre Martin, Head of Innovative Risk Solutions Asia Pacific at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, commented, “Self-insuring through captives is an established and cost-effective way of protecting your assets but can pose the risk of potential insolvency under certain circumstances.
“At Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, we optimise self-insurance by transferring risk to provide capacity and liquidity.”
In Malaysia, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is a Labuan-domiciled entity with a co-located office in Kuala Lumpur.
