Cayman is well known as an attractive international destination for financial industry conferences, particularly in the hedge fund sector, but you might be surprised that the biggest annual conference is for the captive insurance industry.

The Cayman Captive Forum (the "Forum") spans over three days and attract close to 1,500 delegates every November/December and has in recent years been held at the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman. Every other hotel is also jam packed and for the restaurants and taxi cabs it's an early Christmas.

The Forum is hosted by the Insurance Managers Association of the Cayman Islands (IMAC) and it's the industry's annual showcase. Besides being the largest such event in Cayman it is also the largest off shore captive conference anywhere in the world. It's a big deal.

The Cayman Islands is home to over 700 captive insurance companies. According to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority's statistics as at 30 June, 2016 IMAC's clients generated annual insurance premiums of US$13.6 billion and had assets under management of US$58 billion. These are enormous figures, especially for an industry that employs fewer than 300 people in Cayman.

Cayman's first captive insurance conference in 1988 was held in the conference room at the Grand Pavilion, with approximately 150 delegates. The venue changed to the Hyatt in 1993 and then to the Westin until 2005. Each change in venue was a direct response to an increase in delegates. However, it was only after 2006, when it moved to the much larger, then-new Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman that the conference rapidly grew into what it is today.

The 2016 Conference, held at the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman was the tenth Cayman Captive Forum, a significant milestone for any financial services conference.

The recipe of the Forum's success is no secret, being a combination of a number of unique events carefully timed and spaced so that one runs effortlessly into the next, culminating in a beach party on the final evening. The events include tutorial sessions and a golf tournament on the Tuesday followed by an evening cocktail party. On Wednesday, the key-note speaker is the highlight of the morning followed by various technical and topical sessions led by internationally renowned experts in insurance, tax and accounting. Th e Forum is a great platform for all those wanting to learn about a breadth of issues impacting captive insurance business, also providing an opportunity to network with a whole cross section of captive insurance industry service providers.

Some of the better known speakers in the past have been Frank Abagnale, the protagonist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, James Bradley, the author of Flags of our Fathers, Jeffry Ma, the infamous poker player, Jason Belfort, the real Wolf of Wall Street and Dr. Michio Kaku, the theoretical physicist and futurist. The 2016 key note speaker was Diana Nyad, who at the age of 64 and in her fifth and fi nal attempt successfully fulfilled her lifelong dream of completing the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida on 2 September, 2013.

The Wednesday evening cocktail party is held at a different location from the previous evening and gives delegates the opportunity to see another part of the island. The Thursday sessions are an extension of Wednesday and keep the delegates busy until the finale on the beach. That final beach party with its live bands, cigar rolling and fireworks display is talked about all over the world, and brings together all that it good about the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Captive Forum attracts delegates from many different countries and is an event of which everyone in Cayman is very proud of.

About the Author

Conor is the M.D. of Captiva Insurance Managers and is based in the Cayman Islands. Conor is a Fellow of both the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Over the past twenty years as a captive insurance manager in a number of different countries around the world, he has built up considerable practical experience working closely with risk management professionals and captive owners.

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