GUERNSEY’S insurance industry is holding up well despite the economic downturn, according to latest figures.
Up to May the Guernsey Financial Services Commission received 14 licence applications, six of which have been pure captives.
More are also expected over the summer months.
‘Looking across the insurance sector as a whole, although 2009 began a little quiet, applications for insurance licences have shown a marked increase since late April,’ said a GFSC spokesman. ‘The number of licence applications received during the first five months of 2009 is significantly up on the same period last year, with 14 having been received up to the end of May this year compared with nine for the first five months of 2008. Expressions of interest about applications to be made in the next few months appear to indicate that the recent improvement is set to continue.’
The spokesman added that this year’s figures were comparable with those for the same period in 2006 and 2007.
Peter Child, client insurance manager at the Heritage Group, sat on the panel at the recent GuernseyFinance captive seminar in London. He said managers across the board in Guernsey were experiencing marked interest in captives.
‘A perception that the insurance markets are hardening has led to an increased interest in the formation of captives.
‘A lot of the preparatory work that has been undertaken by the captive insurance fraternity in Guernsey during the softer market is now paying off.’
Mr Child said the increase in applications as a result was great news for the local industry.
And while some rival offshore jurisdictions are reporting decreasing levels of business, most notably in the Caribbean, Guernsey was doing well, as shown by its recent listing in trade magazine Business Insurance, where it was placed as the fourth-largest captive insurance jurisdiction in the world and the biggest in Europe.
Richard Walker, director of policy and international affairs at the GFSC, added: ‘While Guernsey remains Europe’s leading captive jurisdiction, and captives continue to be a major part of new business in our insurance market, a broader range of insurance vehicles also continue to be formed here.
‘These vehicles include both commercial insurers and reinsurers.’
Article posted on 3rd June, 2009 - 2.44pm
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