Bermuda, the world?s largest captive domicile, is also the best one to do business in, according to the findings of a new survey.

The Island was voted tops for tailored regulation, accessibility, cost efficiency, and for protected cell legislation, in the survey published in the May issue of Reactions magazine.

The broad vote of confidence is heartening news for the hundreds who work in the Island?s captive management sector. The plaudit affirms the Island?s leading place, as it comes under increasing competition from a growing number of rival domiciles ? particularly in the US.

The praise could also serve to bolster interest in the Bermuda Captive Conference, to be held for the second consecutive year this September. The conference provides a broad range of captive-specific information, including tax and regulatory issues, to risk managers and corporations that own the self-insurance vehicles.

Conference coordinator Mike Hardy said the 2006 Bermuda Captive conference was expecting in the region of 400 risk managers, chief finance officers and captive owners. Last year?s inaugural conference attracted 300 people.

The world?s top captive domiciles ? Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Vermont, the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, Barbados, Luxembourg, Dublin, Turks and Caicos and Isle of Man ? grew by less than four percent in 2005, according to a survey by Advisen, cited in the Reactions report.

And a growing number of US states catering to captive insurers, led by Vermont, is proving strong competition for offshore domiciles, now that tax advantages for offshore captives have more or less faded.

Philip Barnes, president of the Bermuda Insurance Management Association, cautioned that data, taken at face value, does not tell the whole story.

Bermuda lost ground in 2005, according to the Reactions survey, and numbers compiled initially by trade publication Business Insurance. Last year, the Island?s captives fell to 987 from 1,000 in 2004. The numbers take into account new captive formations, as well as ones crossed off the list of insurers holding licences.

Bermuda?s 2005 numbers still put it more than 250 captives ahead of number two rival, the Cayman Islands. However, once the captives formed by various US states are added together, the total outstrips Bermuda, at 1,098 captives.

Mr. Barnes, who is also managing director of Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd., said while the Island appears to have seen a fall in captive incorporations, the full extent of captive activity isn?t readily apparent.

There are two reasons for this. The first is the increasing use of segregated, or protected, cell companies. These are in effect a mini-captive structure within a Segregated Account Company. A cell company provides insurance capacity but usually at a lower cost, and with less red tape, than a full-fledged captive.

Mr. Barnes said many corporations already have established captive insurers. Rather than form a new vehicle, many will bump up the amount of insurance capacity their established entities can provide.

?We are finding a lot of interest from captives to increase their limits,? said Mr. Barnes, who can track the trends in the local market based on business he sees coming through Aon. Aon Insurance Managers is the second largest captive manager in Bermuda after Marsh Management Services (Bermuda) Ltd.

?The outlook is still very buoyant, we are putting on a sizeable number of captives each year. And he said interest was strong amongst both existing and new clients. He said that the Island, which has long catered to Fortune 1000 companies, is also seeing more interest from smaller corporations.