According to a new benchmarking report published by Marsh, there was an overall 11% rise in thenumber of captives writing non-traditional coverage lines in 2014.The biggest increase came from political risk, where the number ofcaptives that include political risk rose 83% in 2014.

Additionally, the number of captives writing cyber liabilitygrew 18%.

[Related: 5 steps to improving your captive'sperformance]

Once almost exclusive to the Fortune 500 and Financial TimesStock Exchange (FTSE) 100 companies, Marsh said captives nowcan provide benefits to organizations of all sizes, industries, andgeographic orientation. Captives have been rapidly expandingthroughout the middle market space, which is anticipated to be arobust growth sector for the captive industry in the future.

Value of adding TRIPRA coverage to existingcaptives

The 8th annual report, The World of Captives: Growth and OpportunitiesWithout Borders, is based on the activities of more than 1,100captives under Marsh's management. Among the conclusions from theMarsh report is that with the newly extended Terrorism Risk Insurance Program ReauthorizationAct of 2015 (TRIPRA), the number of captive owners takingadvantage of the government program is expected to rise in 2015.Currently, only 83 or 22% of the 374 U.S. captives under Marshmanagement access TRIPRA, by writing either conventional terrorismcoverage for property damage or the excluded nuclear, biological,chemical, and radiological perils.

Other key findings of the report:

• Captive domiciles are flourishing in the European Union underSolvency II.
• Emerging markets in Latin America, China, and the Middle Eastare further embracing the use of captives.
• Small captives are the fastest growing segment—more evidencethat captives make sense for companies of all sizes.
• 47% of U.S. owned captives actually achieve insurance taxstatus and deduct premiums paid to the captive.