Bermuda is still the number one captive of choice, according to Business Insurance's latest spotlight report on the captive industry.

The online insurance website revealed that the Island came top of the pile for top off-shore domiciles, closely followed by the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey and Barbados. Of the leading on-shore centres, Vermont in the US came out on top.

Meanwhile, Aon Global Insurance Managers topped the list for largest captive managers world-wide, with Marsh-captive Solutions and Willis Management in second and third places respectively. Aon had 1,348 captives, Marsh 1,131 and Willis 286. Bermuda's captive count totalled 958, with 32 new captives starting up in 2007 and 63 closed down last year.

The report read: "As the longtime captive leader, Bermuda remains the world's largest captive domicile. In 2007, however, Bermuda saw a net decrease in captives of 31 as competition increased from the commercial market and other domiciles.

"In addition, over the past several months, the Bermuda Monetary Authority has more actively sought to eliminate inactive captives from its captive count, a spokeswoman for the regulator said." It concluded that Bermuda was home to captives from numerous jurisdictions, with companies based in the US making up the largest portion of captive parents, while significant numbers of captives with European parents also are licensed in the domicile, and the Island's captive rolls include single-parent captives, association captives, group captives and rent-a-captives.

"Unlike most other domiciles, Bermuda also is home to a sophisticated insurance and reinsurance market, which captive managers on the island cite as a key attraction that allows risk managers to visit several other insurance providers when they visit Bermuda for captive business," it continued.

"The domicile's longevity as a captive centre means it has a well-established network of service providers on the island, including more than three dozen captive managers.

"Increased competition from both new and established US domiciles is cited by observers as a drag on captive growth in Bermuda, which also is viewed as a more costly location for captives. In addition, softening in the commercial market has curbed captive formations in several domiciles, they say."

The Cayman Islands accounted for 765 captives, 46 of which were new last year, while 21 shut during the same period. The British Virgin Islands, Guernsey and Barbados, meanwhile, boasted 409, 368 and 256 captives respectively.