Bermuda remains the world’s number one captive domicile — but it faced plenty of competition from rival jurisdictions attracting the attention of risk managers at RIMS this week.

Barely 30 yards away from the impressive Bermuda booth, was the station of the number two offshore captive domicile, the Cayman Islands. And a couple of strides farther down the aisle was the Vermont booth.

Elsewhere in the hall, the British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Hawaii and Guernsey all had a presence, all fighting for the same captive business that Bermuda wants.

Captives offer corporations a means of self-insurance and hosting them has been the bread and butter of Bermuda’s insurance market for decades.

With the evolution of more sophisticated risk management by companies, many more captives are likely to be established in the coming years.

The Vermont booth attracted plenty of visitors — even if most were more interested in sampling its delicious free ice cream than in talking about captives.

“Vermont and Bermuda are both leaders in the industry — arguably the leading onshore and offshore captive domiciles,” said Daniel Towle, director of financial services for the state of Vermont. “We have a lot of the same clients and we have a lot of respect for Bermuda, as they do for us.

“But for some clients, it’s very important to remain onshore, because of perception, although I think most people set up their captives based on business decisions.”

He said a sound financial services infrastructure and a 26-year history in the business had helped to cement Vermont’s reputation and attract 802 licensed captives.

The British Virgin Islands has become a major player in the captive industry and is progressively increasing its market share.

Dwayne Thomas, of the BVI International Finance Centre, on duty at the British Caribbean territory’s booth, said: “Over the last few years we have grown faster than Bermuda or Guernsey and we are here to push ourselves as a business-friendly captive domicile.

“We now have 388 and we are gaining all the time. By the end of the year, we hope to have reached 400 captives.”

In its literature, the BVI boasts of a strong regulatory framework and seeks to distance itself from the negative image of tiny offshore centres, while not detracting from the appeal of light regulation.

“The BVI has demonstrated a clear commitment to fighting financial crime without necessarily enacting measures that will damage its future competitiveness,” one brochure stated.

The Barbados booth was pushing its network of double taxation agreements with a large number of countries, including Cuba — an advantage it claimed many other offshore jurisdictions did not share.

And it boasted of the island’s thriving international business sector that employed 3,000 people and produced around 7.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

While competition among rival jurisdictions is certainly heating up, it remains civilised.

“I don’t like the word rival,” Mr. Thomas said. “But in business you have to be competitive.”