How to start writing employee benefits through a captive
We look at the process of setting up your EB captive programme

Are you about to start an employee benefits (EB) captive programme – or seriously considering it? It’s a big decision, and one that you might not know how to approach, so we’re here to help with a guide on the first steps to turn the captive idea into reality.
We always say that captives are the most efficient way to write EB risks. Yet, they’re still not that widely used for EB. Figures from 2024 show that there around 6,000 captives in use around the world, mostly for property and casualty (P&C),1 but there are not that many that are writing EB business. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact number used for EB, but it’s thought to be around 200 which is about 5% of the total captive market, according to Captive Review.2
But the use of captives for writing EB is rising. In the last five years our captive client list has expanded by 41%, which shows their increasing popularity among multinationals.
We know that setting up an EB captive can be a potentially daunting step, so in this series of articles we’ll look at the journey a company will go on, from starting a captive programme to how to grow and manage it once it’s more mature. This Viewpoint will look at what you’ll want to do to get yours up and running.
What is a captive and how are they used for EB?
A captive is an insurance company owned by a multinational. If you decide to set up a captive, you will manage your own business risks via reinsurance. Your company will be the ultimate risk bearer and will keep any underwriting profits on policies.
Using a captive means your company can manage its EB risks more closely, defining the pricing strategy, removing exclusions (where possible) and covering claims that might not be possible in certain regions. Another advantage of a captive is that it will allow you to take control of the benefits that you provide, offering more to your employees – which can help you to attract talent and retain your people.

Should you add EB to your captive or set up a new captive entirely?
If your company already has a captive, writing P&C risks for example, adding your EB lines into this will often be the most straightforward option. Adding to an existing captive is also a great way to diversify risk in your portfolio. EB business is usually quite predictable in comparison to other, more volatile P&C lines.
MAXIS Regional Director – EMEA, Aaron Brown, has been involved with many multinationals who are now writing their EB through a captive with great success.
Aaron says: “The benefit of having a captive is control, oversight and managing risks efficiently, which is why we’re seeing that captives are growing in popularity among multinationals.
“The easiest option when starting up is for a company to use an existing captive and then get licensed for EB within this, although it’s also possible to set up a new captive just for EB risks.
“However, the reason it’s easier to work with an existing captive is because if you already have a large volume on the non-life side, you already have experience of managing risk and can potentially look to leverage that book of business during the implementation phase of bringing EB into the captive. Although lots of captives opt for a breakeven strategy and don’t chase large profits, it’s vital to ensure the captive can manage its costs well.”
First steps for adding EB to your captive
Whether you’re adding EB to your existing captive or starting a new one, there are several important steps to consider to ensure that everything runs smoothly and your people get the best benefits possible.
• Understand your EB risks: Having a long history of claims experience in your markets around the world is important. With a captive programme, the captive will be the risk bearer for EB risks. Having a good understanding of your historical claims performance is key. This data can be collected from local markets or provided by your EB network partner/s through reports from existing EB programmes (like a global pool).
• Get buy-in: It’s important to take the time to communicate the benefits of moving your EBs into a captive and what it’ll bring to your business to key stakeholders. This could include working with local HR, operations and benefits teams about what will change day-to-day. On a global level, you’ll want to make sure that Risk, Finance and Procurement departments are fully up to speed and understand why you want to set up a captive programme and how it will benefit them. Getting the buy in at the start will help the process to be managed more effectively.
• Make sure that teams align: Risk and HR will be working together a lot, with Risk focusing on ensuring the captive matches the business’ risk appetite, while HR will have a good view on each country’s benefits policies and practices. Good communication between teams will be essential for the EB captive to function well and decide which policies to add to the captive first.
• Decide how you want your captive to operate: Once your team is bought in to the idea of your EB captive, you can make decisions about how you want it to operate. This includes decisions on whether you want to use a global broker or consultant to help set and manage the ongoing captive strategy. You’ll also need to decide which EB network(s) you’d like to partner with. It’s important to consider whether the network can match your global footprint, but also that it has the local expertise and service offering to meet the needs of your people.
• Defining your captive goals: What do you want to achieve by moving to a captive? By taking a close look at your existing global EB portfolio, you can then decide what you want your captive to do and where you need it to be as a business. For example, you might use it to address gaps or disparities in coverage for your people, by removing exclusions or covering claims via ex-gratia payments that wouldn’t be possible on local policy terms. Many multinationals operate their captive as close to breakeven as possible and look to reinvest any underwriting profits into wellness programmes or enhanced benefits for their people. Defining your goal will help inform your strategy for adding business to the captive.

So you've set up your captive... what's next?
With your team aligned and your goals agreed, it’s time to start moving EB business into your captive. With medical, life, accident and disability lines of business written in dozens of countries for (usually) a number of different entities, deciding which ones to add first can be a challenge.
Aaron says: “Multinationals might want to add business to their captive by looking at ‘easy’ markets first. A market might be ‘easy’ for a number of reasons, like lighter local regulation or because you have historical claims data that you’re comfortable with. You can look at which lines of risk you have in each of these and work with your stakeholders to move the business into the captive.
He adds: “In my experience, using renewal dates to help guide which markets to add first is a great approach. When the renewal date approaches, the local teams should invite the local insurer of your chosen network to submit a request for proposal (RFP). RFPs shouldn’t just be conducted based on price – they should be carried out based on the services and expertise that an insurer can bring and align with the strategy of adding business to the captive.”
What else is there to consider once you begin adding business to your captive?
• If you want to have control over your EB, you need to look at all lines of risk. While you will probably spend more on medical than you will on life and disability – as it’s likely your employees will use medical insurance often – to gain control, you need to look at all lines and not just focus on life insurance, for example.
• Each line of business will have its own challenges, but it’s all about diversification. Life insurance is generally considered to be the most stable risk (but can have high payouts when there are claims), while long term disability can be volatile and medical has thin margins. However, the most successful captives have a mix of each line of business to ensure risks are diversified and any losses or volatility can be mitigated or managed.
• Your license may dictate what business you can add to the captive. Review what lines of risk your captive can write. For example, some captives have a challenge with getting the right licenses to cover all lines of EB business.
Success stories
There are numerous great examples of companies that have started using a captive for their employee benefits in recent years that MAXIS has facilitated. Each company’s needs are unique, which means that the implementation process is slightly different on a case-by-case basis.
However, the different considerations we’ve mentioned are similar for each multinational, from getting buy-in from key stakeholders to defining a strategy and adding different markets and lines of risk to a captive. This can give companies greater control over profits as well as the quality and range of benefits they offer their employees.
Aaron told us about a recent successful implementation of a captive programme. “We worked with a multinational that had a pool for many years and was ready to move to a captive programme. The team had a global broker arrangement and went out to a captive RFP. MAXIS was selected as one of the networks.
“The client took a step-by-step approach, communicating clearly with local entities to ensure they were aware of the new strategy with the captive. They didn’t mandate that the local teams had to choose MAXIS’ local partner at the RFP, but asked them to consider the proposals based on the service offering and remove price from the equation. This meant that the local HR team could choose the local insurer that provided the right service, and if the pricing worked for the captive, they could choose that partner.
“They did slowly start adding EB business to the captive market-by-market and made their decisions based on renewal date, claims experience and local service offering. A few years down the road and the multinational has added a number of countries and policies into the captive and is looking to grow the programme.”
Every multinational will have a different experience starting their captive programme, but we hope these common experiences will help you understand some of the first considerations for setting up your programme and adding your first EB policies to the captive. Of course, you can speak to a MAXIS representative or view our captive page for more information.
Coming next...
We’re here for you on every step of the journey, and we’ll be back soon with our second article of the series looking at how to continue growing your captive programme once it’s been running for a few years. Make sure to check back and read more.
[1] Richardson, M. Captive Review. (August 12, 2024) Captive numbers surpass 6,000 and premium over $200bn. https://www.captivereview.com/captive-numbers-surpass-6000-and-premium-over-200bn/ (Sourced: June 2025)
[2] Richardson, M. Captive Review. (July 15, 2022) IGP: Captives and employee benefits. https://www.captivereview.com/features/igp-captives-and-employee-benefits/ (Sourced: June 2025)
This document has been prepared by MAXIS GBN S.A.S and is for informational purposes only – it does not constitute advice. MAXIS GBN S.A.S has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this document has been obtained from reliable sources but cannot guarantee accuracy or completeness. The information contained in this document may be subject to change at any time without notice. Any reliance you place on this information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
The MAXIS Global Benefits Network (“Network”) is a network of locally licensed MAXIS member insurance companies (“Members”) founded by AXA France Vie, Paris, France (“AXA”) and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY (“MLIC”). MAXIS GBN S.A.S, a Private Limited Company with a share capital of €4,650,000, registered with ORIAS under number 16000513, and with its registered office at 313, Terrasses de l’Arche – 92727 Nanterre Cedex, France, is an insurance and reinsurance intermediary that promotes the Network. MAXIS GBN S.A.S is jointly owned by affiliates of AXA and MLIC and does not issue policies or provide insurance; such activities are carried out by the Members. MAXIS GBN S.A.S operates in the UK through its UK establishment with its registered address at 1st Floor, The Monument Building, 11 Monument Street, London EC3R 8AF, Establishment Number BR018216 and in other European countries on a services basis. MAXIS GBN S.A.S operates in the U.S. through MAXIS Insurance Brokerage Services, Inc., with its registered office located in New York, USA, a New York licensed insurance broker. MLIC is the only Member licensed to transact insurance business in New York. The other Members are not licensed or authorised to do business in New York and the policies and contracts they issue have not been approved by the New York Superintendent of Financial Services, are not protected by the New York state guaranty fund, and are not subject to all of the laws of New York. MAR01651/0725
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