Why We Now Offer Captives to Clients And Why You Should Too

Before we partnered with Capvartis, we’d built our brokerage simply by helping clients navigate the commercial insurance market. For years, the model worked: we sourced coverage, negotiated renewals, managed claims and hoped that market cycles would be kind. But in recent years, that model has been tested. Premiums keep climbing, capacity is shrinking in key lines, and clients are asking harder questions around the value of alternative risk transfer strategies.

That’s what led us to rethink our approach and to explore captives as a strategic alternative risk transfer solution. Today, we can say with confidence: offering captives has transformed our value proposition as a broker. It’s helped us win new business, retain key accounts, and provide a level of advisory depth that clients genuinely appreciate.

Captives Aren’t Just for the Big Guys Anymore

Let us dispel a common myth: captives are not just for Fortune 500s with sprawling global exposures. Thanks to changes in regulation, technology, and market accessibility, captives are now a viable option for all sizes of business, especially those with strong risk management cultures and consistent loss histories.

When we first started exploring this space, we assumed captives would be too complex or too niche for our book. We were wrong. In fact, captives are becoming mainstream for clients who are tired of paying more for less and want greater control over their risk.

Why Captives Resonate with Clients

When we introduce the idea of a captive to a client, the reaction is often curiosity mixed with cautious optimism. But once we walk through the mechanics how a captive allows them to retain underwriting profit, tailor coverage, and access reinsurance directly the conversation shifts.

Clients soon realise this isn’t just another insurance product. It’s a risk financing strategy that puts them in control with long term benefits.

Here’s what we’ve seen firsthand:

• Cost Efficiency: Captives help clients smooth out premium volatility and reduce dependency on hard market pricing.

• Tailored Coverage: They can insure what the commercial market often can’t or won’t. Think cyber, supply chain risk, or reputational harm.

• Better Data, Better Decisions: With richer claims and exposure data, clients can drive smarter risk management, driving down losses.

• Reinsurance Access: Once formed, the captive can plug into global reinsurance markets, often at better terms than what’s available retail.

How It’s Helped us Increase Our Value as a Broker

I’ll be honest offering captives didn’t just help our clients. It changed the trajectory of our business too.

• We stand out. In a saturated market, offering captive expertise has positioned us as a strategic advisor, not just another intermediary.

• We keep clients longer. Captive relationships are deeper and more engaged. When we are helping to run their own insurer, you’re not easily replaced.

• We’ve diversified revenue. Between feasibility assessments, advisory services, and reinsurance structuring, there are multiple income streams beyond traditional commissions.

But the biggest difference? I’m now having conversations that go far beyond policy limits and deductibles. I’m helping clients think about total risk financing, and that’s a powerful shift in the value we offer our clients.

Getting Over the Learning Curve with the Right Partner

When we first dipped into the captive world, we thought the cost of hiring or outsourcing the right expertise would outweigh the benefits, we thought it would be like learning a new language. Regulations, actuarial models, feasibility studies it was a lot to take in. We needed help.

That’s when we partnered with Capvartis. They weren’t just another service provider; they were a true partner. Their CaptiveIQ platform and turnkey solutions helped us too:

• Quickly assess which clients were best suited for a captive.

• Automate the clients feasibility study, expediting the captive process

• leverage their Captive IQ technology to understand the most compatible risks and preferred domiciles

• Allowed us to offer our clients access to turnkey structures and guided support.

• Provide guidance and regulatory reporting

• Get up skilled in the captive lifecycle without getting buried in technical jargon.

They didn’t try to replace us. They engaged and helped us lead the conversation.

Our Feedback to the Market

If you’re a broker reading this and thinking, “I’m not sure I can talk about captives confidently,” you are not alone. That was us not to long ago. But the truth is, the market Is changing and clients are already asking about alternative risk transfer strategies including captives from CFOs, consultants, even LinkedIn. If we’re not prepared to have that conversation, someone else will.

Adding captives to your repertoire isn’t just a smart move it’s becoming essential to providing true client value.

The industry is changing. Clients want options. They want control. They want to see that we’re not just renewing but helping them manage risk holistically.

Captives help you do that. And with the right support like what I found with Capvartis you don’t have to do it alone.