A new book charting the evolution of Guernsey’s insurance industry over the past 50 years has been published by local insurance veteran Nick Wild, independent non-executive director, author, and founding member and honorary secretary of the Sagacious Group.
History of the Development of International Insurance Business in Guernsey 1975–2025 explores the island’s journey from its captive insurance roots to becoming a world-renowned international insurance centre.
The book covers the last 50 years of development from captives to insurance linked securities and coverage for the third sector.
“The key theme that runs through the book is how successful Guernsey has been, and how it has continually adapted, diversified, and innovated to remain a leading centre for international insurance business,” Wild told Captive Intelligence.
Wild said a key inspiration for the book was an essay written by Michael Ward covering insurance in Guernsey, from 1770 to 1970.
“I found it a very interesting read,” Wild explained. “At the end, he said he had decided not to go further than 1970, when captive insurance business started to flourish.”
“This despite being one of the first people to bring captives to Guernsey.” Ward added: “I hope somebody will pick this up and run with it.”
Wild thought that writing the book could be an interesting winter project.
“I made a start on it, and as soon as I got into it, I found I was really enjoying the research and contact with many practitioners on the island,” he said.
Wild said that if he had not written it now, some of the key practitioners would not be available to recount what happened, when and why.
“Those were really the two drivers for the book: Inspiration from Michael’s essay, and the realisation that if I didn’t capture it now, the story would not be complete,” he said.
Wild said the biggest change in the period covered in the book was the introduction of Protected Cell Companies (PPCs).
“It opened the door for captives from companies that were not large multinationals thus expanding the pool of businesses Guernsey could market to,” he said.
Wild said Guernsey did not realise it at the time of its introduction in 1997, but the PCC structure would also go on to facilitate a whole range of different types of insurance business.
“Without the PCC, many of those opportunities might have passed us by – or we might never have even considered them,” Wild said.
“The PCC has been a game changing innovation in the insurance industry and Guernsey lead the way.”