Bermuda remains the largest domicile in terms of active captives — a total of 856 as of the end of last year, the Bermuda Monetary Authority said yesterday.And the BMA said despite the tough conditions, the Island’s insurance sector achieved strong results, writing over $100 billion in premiums.The number of new Special Purpose Insurers and Long-Term (life) Insurance Companies increased and more than 850 captives recorded $20 billion in gross premiums written.Shelby Weldon, director of Licensing and Authorisations at the BMA, said the market’s resilience was reflected in its consistent performance.“Bermuda’s insurers continue to write significant volumes of premiums and hold substantial amounts of both assets and capital and surplus,” he said. “The volume of business being written here and the quality of our firms show that Bermuda remains one of the world’s premier insurance domiciles.”Mr. Weldon said the market environment has become increasingly competitive, particularly in the captive space, but Bermuda clearly has the ability to attract quality business.He added. “We are continuing to see new captive business choosing to locate here, based on our experience, both in terms of the practical regulatory environment and professional service providers on the ground catering to captives, as well as unparalleled access to a sophisticated reinsurance market.”The latest available statistics show that the market recorded similar year-on-year aggregate gross premiums written of $107.6 billion; net premiums written were $94.6 billion. Overall, the market recorded aggregate capital and surplus of $168.7 billion and held total assets of $452.2 billion.Gross premiums written by the commercial sector were $87.3 billion. Total assets for the commercial sector were $366.9 billion, while capital and surplus was $126.6 billion. The captive sector wrote $20.3 billion in gross premiums and reported total assets of $85.3 billion; reported capital and surplus for this sector was $42.1 billion.Underwriting statistics quoted are from insurance company Statutory Financial Returns (SFRs) submitted for 2011. The BMA noted companies submit SFRs on a phased basis throughout the year following the financial year-end. Due to this schedule the most re cent complete year-end figures for this overview are from 2011, the BMA said.The BMA also recently announced that Bermuda will not be applying any Solvency II-type regime to the captive sector.The jurisdiction also recorded a range of new insurer registrations — a total of 53 for 2012 — largely driven by 27 new Special Purpose Insurers (SPI).Bermuda is increasingly becoming a global centre for the creation, listing and servicing of Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) that are sponsored by SPIs.“Having put in place the regulatory framework for SPIs in 2009, we are pleased to see initial interest now translating into active business,” Mr Weldon said. “The total volume of new ILS issued globally in 2012 was $6.4 billion with $2.5 billion, or 40 percent, of this total being sponsored by Bermuda-registered SPIs. Overall, SPIs provide another alternative risk transfer option which builds upon Bermuda’s long-standing expertise in this area. The jurisdiction is committed to servicing this growing segment of the market.”Mr. Weldon added, “We are also pleased to see increased registrations in the Long-Term space. We registered nine new Long-Term firms in 2012, compared to three in 2011. This increase shows that Bermuda is still very much open for life insurance business. One of our priorities is to ensure this sector continues to benefit from proportionate regulation that remains workable for both the market and the regulator.“In fact, that will continue to be the case for our regulation for the insurance sector overall,” he continued. “Bermuda remains attractive due to our unique position of being able to service the full spectrum of insurance: from commercial insurers, to captives, to Long-Term firms. There is a collective commitment from the Authority, service providers, and the market to continue providing quality regulation and service standards to the insurance sector.”