Bermuda’s insurance marketplace attracted 45 new companies during the first half of this year — some of them major players.

Financial regulator the Bermuda Monetary Authority said this was on a par with 2014, when 44 new insurers and intermediaries were registered in the January through June period.

Three of them were Class 4s — a category which requires a minimum $100 million of capital. The biggest was ABR Re Ltd, the joint venture between Ace Ltd and money-manager BlackRock, which started with almost $800 million.

The regulator also reported an increase in captive insurer formations, driven by new business from Canada and Latin America, while the insurance-linked securities sector continued to thrive.

Shelby Weldon, the BMA’s director, licensing and authorisations, said: “One of the new Class 4s — which was a result of the partnership between one of the world’s largest global reinsurers and one of the world’s largest asset management firms — initially capitalised at approximately $775 million, while another new Class 4 subsidiary initially capitalised with $300 million.

“The ability to attract over $1 billion of capital in just two new Class 4 reinsurers speaks to the continued significance of the Bermuda market.

“In addition, an increase in the number of new insurance intermediaries setting up in Bermuda — increasing from eight to 11 year-on-year — also demonstrates Bermuda’s attractiveness as a global insurance marketplace.”

In a statement released today, the BMA said Bermuda’s life insurance (Long-Term) sector attracted one new Class E and three new Class C firms.

On the captive side, registrations for Class 1, 2 and 3 insurers increased from seven to ten year-on-year, with new companies including captives from Latin America covering the risks of predominantly Colombian parents and Canadian captives covering property and general liability risks.

“The Authority is pleased to see that the jurisdiction’s efforts to promote Bermuda’s captive sector — particularly in growth regions of Latin America and Canada — have resulted in an increase in new captives registered during the first six months of 2015,” Mr Weldon said. “It is also important to note that these are quality captives, writing quality business.”

Fourteen new special purpose insurers (SPIs) registered in the first six months of the year, compared with 16 in the same period last year.

One of them was Panda Re, a catastrophe bond issued by China Re to cover Chinese earthquake risk. The BMA said there were other China-related start-ups and that these newcomers were significant.

“During the first half of 2015, the Authority noted a number of newly registered insurers expressly designed to facilitate the Chinese insurance market,” Mr Weldon said. “Attracting business from China has been an objective for the jurisdiction for many years. The formation of these insurers is an important milestone in this regard.”

The BMA said investment fund registrations were up 15 per cent during the six-month period. The regulator registered 39 new investment funds, including 12 Class A and B exempt funds and 12 institutional funds, compared to 34 fund registrations in the same period of last year.