Marsh has appointed Sydney-based Shawn Willis (pictured) as captive strategy leader for the Pacific region, a newly created role aimed at meeting what the firm described as “growing demand from clients for strategic advice on captive structures and utilisation.”
Willis, who has spent more than two decades with Marsh and continues as strategic client director, will work alongside the firm’s captive management and placement teams across the Pacific. His responsibilities include helping clients evaluate their risk-retention strategies, identifying opportunities to improve captive performance, and developing long-term utilisation plans aligned with each client’s risk and business objectives.
The firm said Willis brings deep experience advising large and complex clients on risk financing and alternative risk transfer.
The appointment comes during a period of sustained captive growth globally.
Marsh’s 2026 Captive Solutions Benchmarking Report found that captives managed by the firm wrote US$79.1 billion in gross written premium in 2025. In the same year, 118 new captives were formed under Marsh’s management, up from 92 in 2024.
That growth occurred while the broader commercial market softened. Marsh’s Global Insurance Market Index recorded a 4% decline in commercial pricing in 2025, yet captive premium volumes continued to rise.
The report found that captive activity rose across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific in 2025, with the largest captive-owning markets, including Australia, recording growth of between 6% and 23%. Domicile patterns also shifted, with Marsh-managed premium evenly split between offshore and onshore domiciles for the first time.
Fortune 500 companies increased their captive premium volume by 9% in 2025, with growth particularly pronounced in chemicals (127% year on year) and education (98%).
Read more: Captive insurance premiums hit US$79 billion as growth defies softening market
The scope of what captives cover has widened. Newly formed captives in 2025 typically started with one or two lines, most commonly property, excess and auto liability, workers’ compensation, and cyber liability, according to Marsh’s benchmarking report.
Cyber and trade credit premiums written through Marsh-managed captives reached a combined US$600 million. Protected cell programmes within Marsh’s Mangrove facility increased 14% by cell count and 47% by premium volume, offering a lower-cost entry point for organisations exploring captive structures without standalone entity overhead.
More than a third of Marsh-managed single-parent captives participated in some form of reinsurance activity in 2025, ceding US$11.5 billion to the reinsurance market.
The creation of a dedicated Pacific role also coincides with regulatory moves across the Asia-Pacific to attract captive business.
In July 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) opened a consultation on a proposed protected cell company (PCC) framework designed to support captive insurance, insurance-linked securities, and sovereign risk pools. Singapore is home to close to 90 captive insurers.
Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority (IA) authorised two new captive insurers in July 2026, bringing the city’s total to nine. IA CEO Clement Cheung described the authorisations as “testimony to the successful execution of our strategy of developing Hong Kong into a leading risk management centre.”
These developments suggest an increasingly competitive landscape across Asia-Pacific domiciles, which adds context to why Marsh has chosen to invest in a dedicated captive advisory role for the Pacific.
Read more: Hong Kong adds two captives as market softens
For brokers advising mid-market and large commercial clients, the practical implication is that conversations about risk retention and captive structures are becoming more common across the client spectrum.
Zurich Insurance noted in a May 2026 report that captives have shifted from niche alternatives toward board-level strategic tools, driven by risks that are “more interconnected and unpredictable,” including geopolitical instability, supply chain disruption, and extreme weather.
With captive premiums continuing to climb while commercial rates decline, brokers who can identify when a captive conversation is appropriate for their clients will be better positioned to contribute to programme design discussions. Willis’s appointment indicates that demand in Australia and the broader Pacific has reached a level requiring dedicated advisory capacity.
