Barbados recorded another success when an Invest Barbados led delegation participated in the recently held 2018 USA RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition, which took place from April 15-18, in San Antonio, Texas.
With this year's theme of "Go Big" the leading risk management and insurance event attracted approximately 9,100 delegates, including a total of 383 exhibitors, which comprised ten captive domiciles: the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands from the Caribbean, as well as Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont.
Attendees benefitted from several workshops, continuing education and hot topic sessions presented by a cadre of international keynote speakers, along with a several networking activities. This year saw an increase in the number of new exhibitors, as well as in Chinese attendees.
The Barbados delegation comprised Mr. Kenneth Campbell, Director of Investment Promotion and Mrs. Ann Mellows, Senior Business Development Officer, both of Invest Barbados; Mr. Kester Guy, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Services Commission; Mr. Henderson Holmes, Executive Director, Barbados International Business Association; Mr. Wayne Fields, President and Mr. Justin Cole, Vice President, Management Services, both of DGM Financial Group; Ms. Lisl B. Lewis, Executive Director, Head of Caribbean, London Capital and Mr. John-Paul Kowlessar, Partner, Ernst & Young.
Over the three days, the Barbados team capitalised on the opportunity to interact with visitors to the booth, many of whom made general inquiries about Barbados captives and the associated benefits for their respective companies. Stemming from these interactions, some local service providers also reported potential international business opportunities to further pursue.
President of DGM Financial Group, Wayne Fields gave positive feedback regarding his experience at the conference. "The USA RIMS 2018 Conference was definitely a success for Barbados. We found that there was a noticeable increase in interest in Barbados this year. There was interest from Latin American companies that are seeking out a captive jurisdiction as well as from existing captive insurance companies that want to relocate from competing jurisdictions to Barbados. This trend supports the need for Barbados to be present at RIMS in order to be front of mind when potential clients are considering a captive domicile. [DGM expects to gain new business] as a result of the Conference."
Barbados is currently ranked among the top ten captive domiciles globally. The number of captives has increased steadily over the years, with a recorded total of 266 active entities at the end of 2017.
Invest Barbados continues its promotional outreach with a number of other activities throughout the remainder of the year, including the upcoming STEP Canada 20th National Conference, which will be held from May 28-29, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
