ALTERNATIVE markets are not so alternative any more. By many estimates, they account for well over a third of commercial insurance premiums. The raison d'etre of alternative markets is to enable qualified insureds to assume more control of, and responsibility for, their loss exposures. Some agents, brokers and program administrators–particularly those with underwriting expertise and a good book of business–also get involved in the alternative markets as a way to earn additional revenue, although the opportunity is not risk-free.

Alternative markets take on many forms, including captives, rent-a-captives, self-insurance plans and pools, risk retention groups and purchasing groups. For this special report, we've contacted seven people who are involved with these mechanisms to obtain their perspectives on how they are being affected by everything from the softening market to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, as well as what the future holds for them. Before reading their comments, however, it might be helpful to briefly review the characteristics of single-parent captives, group captives and rent-a-captives, the main alternative-market mechanisms discussed in this report.

An overview of captives

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.