Acumen Ltd. has announced its intentions to manage or acquire captive insurance companies in run-off, after gaining approval from regulator the Bermuda Monetary Authority to provide insurance management services.

Acumen was formed in January 2006, primarily to aid Bermuda companies in cases such as the prolonged absence of a regular member of staff or the need for extra back-up for work on special projects.

But now the company, which employs seven accountants, is looking to build up its suite of services.

The company's founder, Richard Hartley, said all of the company's employees were expatriates, despite efforts to attract Bermudian staff.

"We just advertised for a senior accountant and we received 46 applications — none of them from Bermudians," Mr. Hartley said.

He added that when the company started out, it was a struggle to hire accountants, but the high level of interest in the latest post advertised was indicative of the impact of the economic downturn, particularly on the funds industry.

Before founding Acumen, Mr. Hartley spent two years with global accountancy firm Deloitte, two years with Overseas Partners and four years with steel company Galvex.

Acumen has proved successful in providing outsourcing services in accountancy and consulting for many Bermuda companies, but by its very nature the work is intermittent. Mr. Hartley sees the insurance management services side as fitting well with the outsourcing business and providing a more regular stream of work.

When an insurer goes into run-off, it stops writing new business but continues to operate to meet its continuing obligations.

Some companies, such as Enstar Group, have built successful businesses on acquiring companies that have gone into run-off.

Nick Briggs, who joined Acumen in July last year, was formerly with Enstar and prior to that, worked for Marsh in captive management. He sees a gap in the market that he believes Acumen can fill.

Companies like Enstar and Catalina Holdings Ltd., Mr. Briggs said, focused on acquiring larger property and casualty insurers in run-off. Acumen is interested in doing a similar thing with captives.

Captives are insurers owned wholly or partially by large corporations to provide insurance to the parent and form the bedrock of the Island's insurance industry.

Around 75 percent of the biggest 500 companies in the US have captives based in Bermuda, which is the world's leading captive domicile.

"We believe that between 10 and 20 percent of Bermuda's captives are in run-off," Mr. Briggs said. Acumen is targeting that market, seeking either to manage those companies or to acquire them.

While some of the larger captive managers, such as Marsh and Aon, are affiliated to insurance brokers, Acumen differentiates itself by being an independent operator.

Mr. Hartley said he had discussed Acumen's plans with various companies in London, had received positive feedback and was confident the company would have the resources it needed.

The company aims to establish a track record in the business and grow organically. If successful, Acumen would be able to push ahead on a larger scale and would then need to seek further resources.

Acumen is based in offices in Richmond House, Par-la-Ville, Road, Hamilton.

On the web: www.acumen.bm