Barbados boosting investor offering

Barbados is taking steps to become a more attractive domicile for captive insurance, including with modernised legislation and improved business effiency.

These objectives were outlined last week when BIBA, the Association for Global Business, and its partners launched the Barbados Risk & Insurance Management Conference 2026 (BRIM 2026).

BRIM 2026 will be held on March 26 and 27 at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle.

Financial Services Commission (FSC) chief executive officer Warrick Ward and BIBA president Marlon Yarde said there were ongoing efforts to make Barbados maintain its position as a leading market for insurance investors, including the captive niche, a form of self insurance.

He noted that in addition to revamping all pieces of legislation, the commission was working with its partners, including BIBA, Invest Barbados and other policymakers, to target niche areas of investment.

“There is still a lot of interest in terms of captive insurance and other types of reinsurance. The key is to actually get out there and find the right people to market for. I still think there is an information or a knowledge gap as it relates to captives and what captives can do.

“I’m always very amazed, even in mature markets in Canada, to find that there are people they don’t understand captives, they’ve never heard about it. So we have to go out here and do a lot more. We are seeing some of the efforts from BIBA, as well as Invest Barbados.”

Yarde’s view was that “from a cost perspective, we are very competitive globally”.

“I think what we need to continue to do is to improve on our efficiencies and work is being done on that through Business Barbados,” he said.

“So as things get more efficient, I think we will continue to attract the business and become more competitive from a global perspective.”

BIBA executive director Carmel Haynes also saw an opportunity for Barbados entities, including cooperatives, to pool their resources and cover their risks.

“While we don’t see it too much here, overseas you do see cooperatives, and those sort of large member-based organisations have captives as well,” she said.

She said this was not beyond organisations in Barbados, which could “pool their resources and see how they could self-insure and perhaps have a captive or some sort of fund that operates in the same way”.

“So even though we are discussing this as a global conference, we are a microcosm of what is happening in the rest of the world and it’s really for Barbados to catch up in some instances with what is happening outside,” Haynes added.

She also welcomed the continued support sponsors were providing to BRIM 2026.

Diamond sponsors of BRIM 2026 are RBC Wealth Management and USA Risk Group. Platinum sponsors are Summit Asset Management and WIM Wealth & Insurance Management. Gold sponsors include Concorde Bank and Worldwide Reinsurance.

Silver sponsors are DGM Captive Management Inc, the Financial Services Commission, Invest Barbados and Active Re. Bronze sponsors include AON, SRS, Marsh, Great Pacific Group, Payden & Rygel and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The BRIM Business Lounge is sponsored by Tabit, while the Golf After-Party is sponsored by Integrity. (SC)

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