Long reads

Faced with escalating insurance costs, reduced market capacity, and increasingly complex global risks, auto manufacturers are rethinking their approach to risk management and increasingly adopting captives.

A flurry of captive formations from the healthcare sector has 2025 on track for another strong to match or beat new licence numbers of recent years.

The UK is already a very mature market when it comes to captive utilisation. The corporate community has not required a ‘home’ domicile to become, by some distance, the second largest captive owning country.

The United Kingdom has everything in place to provide a captive regime that is prosperous and attractive, but the devil will be in the detail, particularly when it comes to proportionality of future regulation, which will be a “key ingredient” in determining the jurisdiction’s future success. 

Volkswagen decided to redomesticate its Ireland-domiciled captive to Germany because it “makes more sense” to be closer to company’s German headquarters due to the captive soon being required to abide by IFRS 17 reporting standards.

President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff saga has led to increasing uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and supply chain issues that are causing a headache for captives and insureds.

After Hong Kong licenced the jurisdiction’s first captive licenced by a multinational enterprise, there is a real sense of momentum building in the domicile and an eagerness for further growth.

The WOWS Insurance Services PCC has been formed to provide full homeowners cover, including wildfire risk for high-value homeowners in California that are struggling to get sufficient coverage following a series of costly events.