Employee Benefits

Potential cost savings and improved benefits plans for employees are the two biggest drivers behind the growing trend of companies utilising captives to reinsure international employee benefits programmes.

A growing number of medical stoss loss (MSL) group captives are forming in the United States, though a shift is expected over the coming years with groups becoming more restrictive on membership, according to Andrew Berry, president at SRS Employee Benefits.

While the commercial insurance market is beginning to soften for businesses in the legalised cannabis sector, captives continue to provide a popular option for risks that remain challenging such as liability and property.

There is a growing number of companies, particularly in Europe, with a decentralised structure successfully reinsuring employee benefits in captives, according to Aaron Brown, regional director for business development in EMEA at MAXIS Global Benefits Network.

Richard is joined by Matthias Helmbold, DHL’s Vice President of Global Risk Benefits, Health and Wellbeing, and Aaron Brown, Regional Director for Business Development in EMEA at MAXIS.

Richard is joined by Mikhail Raybshteyn, Americas Captive Insurance Services Co-Leader at EY, and Vittorio Zaniboni, Captive & Insurance Excellence Leader for EY in Luxembourg to reflect on captive activity in 2024, and what to expect in 2025.

Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, is awaiting a decision from the Department of Labor to authorise an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) exemption to allow its captive to reinsure certain US employee benefits.

Extensive claims data is signalling increasing instances of cancer diagnosis and a rising cost per claim, while captive strategies give employers more options to intervene and respond.