Bermuda’s insurance sector is expanding its reach beyond large corporations with new products aimed at mid-market companies, the Bermuda Captive Conference has heard.

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Re-Paid, the subsidiary of Bermudian-based insurance underwriter I-Re, is designed to give smaller firms access to captive insurance strategies traditionally used by Fortune 500 businesses.

Andy Jeckells, I-Re co-chief executive, said: “Captives are very, very big business for big businesses. Ninety per cent of the Fortune 500 are all using captives.”

He was speaking during a panel discussion at the conference at the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club.

He said: “For that sort of company, solutions are abundant because they’ve got scale and financial muscle, but … that's not the case for brokers who are out there looking for a way to service their high-performing, mid-market companies.”

Mr Jeckells said the goal was to create a flexible and cost-effective solution tailored to the needs of smaller businesses. “What you really want when you're looking at your own commercial PCs [property and casualty], you need to know that you’re going to be able to get A-rated coverage and produce a piece of paper that says that you’re insured,” he said. “You’re going to want to set up a captive. You’re going to want to have a high level of control. You’re going to want loads of flexibility. You’re going to want it to be as low-cost as possible.”

One example, he said, involves a family office with 17 corporate entities and 360 locations that used Re-Paid to streamline its insurance coverage. According to Mr Jeckells, the business was able to lower premiums, improve coverage and achieve more efficient risk management.

“You can see how with everything that Bermuda’s got, you can solve some really, really significant problems, but really deliver tremendous value to a client,” he said. “That client is now empowered. He’s making a huge amount of money out of his own insurance programme. He’s got far better coverage, and he’s got to do a whole lot less work.”

However, Bermuda’s mid-market insurance innovations extend into more complex and specialised risk landscapes, too. As businesses face new challenges, panellists said, the island is developing targeted solutions.

“The world of wildfire is very popular at the minute,” explained John Turner, chairman of Price Forbes Bermuda. “It could be utility contractors for anything from line servicing to brush clearance.The market here in Bermuda behind captives is strong in terms of where the capacity comes from.”

These approaches are not limited to environmental risks, he said. “One very specific example demonstrates the abilities here,” Mr Turner noted, referencing unique coverage for “golf course owners and hotel owners” with specialised needs around “tees and greens cover”.

This flexibility builds on the mid-market transformation from products such as Re-Paid, he said, showing how Bermuda continues to push insurance boundaries.