Eighty-two new reinsurance and insurance companies incorporated in Bermuda last year ? 10 percent up on 2005 ? as the Island stayed ahead of rival domiciles.

Financial regulator the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) said yesterday that the majority of the new companies were highly capitalised reinsurers.

But captive insurers ? set up to provide self-insurance to companies ? also made up a significant portion, as did sidecars, entities set up by reinsurers to increase capacity.

The booming Bermuda insurance market reached a landmark statistic in 2005, the latest figures available, when it wrote a total of $100.7 billion in gross premiums, more than $7 billion more than the year before.

The growth looks set to continue, as the 2006 incorporations figure hit a three-year high and the Island?s 82 new companies compared well with figures recorded by other jurisdictions such as Vermont, which had 37, South Carolina, 29, and the Cayman Islands, 50.

Jeremy Cox, the BMA?s supervisor of insurance, said: ?This is a clear indication of the continued confidence the market has in Bermuda as a leading global insurance and reinsurance centre, and the practical, effective regulatory framework in place here.?

Mr. Cox added that Bermuda recognised the continued significance of the captive market as core business for the jurisdiction.

Mrs. Shanna Lespere, deputy director at the BMA said: ?The continued interest and increase overall in captives as well as the commercial reinsurance companies adds to the strength of the Bermuda market.

?Over the past year on the captive side we have continued to see interest surrounding Bermuda?s servicing of the healthcare industry, as well as renewed interest in employee benefit programme solutions.

?On the commercial side, it was no surprise that the most significant trend of the year related to the formation of a number of sidecars, which entered the market to take advantage of capacity gaps in the property and catastrophe arena. Even in the early part of 2007 we continue to see interest in this area.

?However, I believe that the jurisdiction?s success is highlighted in not just the number of incorporations, but also the high quality of the sponsors behind these companies, as well as the continued increases in premium volume written we have been recording over the years.?