Davies Q&A – Mica Johnson

Mica Johnson is Assistant Vice President & Account Executive, Davies Captive Management

Mica Johnson’s route into the captive insurance industry wasn’t a conventional one. Originally from Barbados, she began her career in audit before moving to Bermuda, where exposure to one of the world’s leading insurance markets sparked a new direction.

Today, as Assistant Vice President & Account Executive within Davies’ Captive Management team, Mica works with organisations across multiple jurisdictions, helping them establish and manage captive insurance companies that support their wider business objectives. Having recently attended both the World Captive Forum and the Bermuda Captive Conference, she’s seen first-hand how interest in captives continues to grow as businesses look for greater control over risk.

We spoke to Mica about her career, the conversations shaping today’s captive market and why understanding a client’s business is every bit as important as understanding insurance.

Your career began in audit rather than insurance. How did you find your way into the captive industry?

Like many people in insurance, I didn’t set out to build a career in the industry. I grew up in Barbados and began my career in audit with KPMG, where my exposure to insurance was relatively limited.

I was always interested in working internationally, so when the chance came to move to Bermuda with another audit firm, I took it. That decision completely changed my career. In Bermuda, insurance isn’t just another industry – it’s at the heart of the economy.

During my time in audit, I was seconded into a local insurance company, giving me the chance to experience the industry from the inside. It was a completely different perspective and showed me how insurance businesses operate day to day, rather than simply reviewing their financial results.

Joining Davies felt like a natural next step. My audit background gave me a strong grounding in governance and financial reporting, while my experience within an insurer helped me understand the operational side of the business. Captive management brought those two experiences together.

What I enjoy most is the variety. Every client has different objectives, every captive is different and there’s always something new to learn.

You recently attended both the World Captive Forum and the Bermuda Captive Conference. What did those events tell you about the direction of the captive market?

The biggest takeaway from both conferences was the growing recognition that captives have become a strategic business tool rather than simply an alternative insurance solution.

As insurance costs continue to rise and new risks emerge, organisations are looking for greater control over how they finance and manage risk. Rather than relying solely on the commercial market, they’re exploring how captives can provide more tailored, long-term solutions aligned with their own objectives.

Cyber risk, employee benefits and AI featured prominently in many of the discussions, reflecting the broader challenge of managing risks that continue to evolve faster than traditional insurance products.

It was also interesting to see the level of international interest in Bermuda. At the World Captive Forum, we spoke to organisations considering whether Bermuda offered advantages over other domiciles, while the Bermuda Captive Conference attracted businesses exploring the jurisdiction for the first time.

Bermuda’s combination of specialist expertise, a well-established regulatory framework and a mature insurance ecosystem continues to make it one of the world’s leading captive domiciles.

Overall, both conferences reinforced the same message: captives are becoming an increasingly important part of organisations’ long-term risk and capital management strategies, rather than simply a response to changing insurance market conditions.

More organisations are now exploring captive solutions. What’s driving that change, and what misconceptions do businesses often have when they first consider a captive?

The biggest driver is that organisations want greater certainty and control over how they manage risk. Rising insurance costs, capacity constraints and a broader range of emerging risks are encouraging more businesses to look beyond the traditional insurance market.

We’re also seeing interest from a much wider range of sectors. Healthcare organisations, including hospitals and nursing homes, are becoming increasingly active, alongside technology companies and professional services firms. Many are facing risks that are becoming more difficult or expensive to insure, making captive solutions an increasingly attractive option.

One of the biggest misconceptions, however, is that captives are only suitable for very large organisations. While scale is a consideration, there are many different structures available that can be tailored to organisations with different objectives and risk profiles.

Another common misconception is that a captive delivers immediate cost savings. While it can provide significant long-term value, it requires careful planning, capital commitment and ongoing governance from the outset.

That’s why our first conversations are rarely about the captive itself. They’re about understanding the business. What is the organisation trying to achieve? Whether the objective is improving risk management, creating greater financial certainty or accessing reinsurance more effectively, understanding those wider goals allows us to design a captive that supports the business for the long term.

Davies supports captive clients across multiple jurisdictions. How does that global capability benefit the organisations you work with?

Clients today are looking for more than day-to-day captive management. They want access to specialist expertise that helps them make informed decisions throughout the life of their captive.

That’s one of the advantages of being part of Davies. Alongside our captive management teams, we can draw on actuarial, claims and regulatory specialists across the wider business, as well as colleagues in jurisdictions such as North America and Vermont where clients may be considering different domicile options.

From the client’s perspective, that creates a much more joined-up experience. Rather than coordinating multiple advisers, they have a single point of contact while still benefiting from specialist expertise across the wider Davies business.

It’s particularly valuable when working with international clients. I manage captives in Japan as well as North America, and every jurisdiction brings its own regulatory environment, business culture and ways of working. Understanding those differences is just as important as understanding the technical aspects of captive management.

Building those relationships takes time. It’s about understanding how clients make decisions, how they communicate and, ultimately, what they’re trying to achieve. The better we understand the organisation behind the captive, the better advice we can provide.

Whether we’re coordinating teams across different jurisdictions or helping clients navigate changing regulatory requirements, the objective remains the same: making the process as straightforward as possible while ensuring the captive continues to support the client’s wider business strategy.

What makes a successful captive programme over the long term?

Every successful captive starts with a clear understanding of what it’s there to achieve. Whether the objective is improving risk management, creating greater financial certainty or supporting wider business growth, those goals should shape every decision that follows.

Just as importantly, captives shouldn’t stand still. Businesses evolve through acquisitions, expansion into new markets or changes to the risks they want to retain, and the captive needs to evolve with them.

That’s why ongoing dialogue between the client and the captive manager is so important. While we manage the day-to-day administration, the most successful relationships are those where clients keep us involved in the decisions that could affect their captive. The earlier those conversations happen, the easier it is to adapt the programme to support the business.

For me, that’s where a captive manager adds the greatest value. We’re not simply administering an insurance company; we’re helping clients think about how their captive can continue to support their wider business objectives as those objectives change over time.

Ultimately, the strongest captive programmes are partnerships. The better we understand our clients’ businesses, the better placed we are to help them make informed decisions for the future.

Looking ahead, what developments do you think will have the greatest impact on the captive market over the next few years?

The range of risks businesses are managing continues to evolve, and that’s creating new opportunities for captives.

Cyber remains one of the biggest areas of discussion, while artificial intelligence is prompting organisations to think differently about liability, governance and risk financing. Climate-related risks are also becoming increasingly important as businesses look at the potential impact of changing weather patterns, supply chain disruption and other environmental factors.

We’re also seeing new conversations emerge around areas such as data centres. As organisations invest in the infrastructure needed to support AI and other technologies, they’re facing risks where there may be limited claims history or established insurance solutions. That creates an opportunity to develop more tailored approaches through captive structures.

One of the strengths of captives has always been their flexibility. Rather than waiting for the commercial market to develop new products, organisations can often create solutions that reflect their own risk profile and business objectives.

The captive market has always evolved alongside the needs of its clients, and I expect that to continue as businesses look for more flexible and strategic approaches to managing risk.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone starting a career in the captive industry?

Stay curious and never stop learning. Insurance is constantly evolving. The conversations we’re having today about artificial intelligence, cyber risk and digital infrastructure barely existed a few years ago, and there will always be new challenges to understand. You don’t need to know everything from day one, but you do need to be willing to keep learning throughout your career.

I’d also encourage people to invest time in building relationships. Technical knowledge is essential, but so much of what we do is about understanding our clients, listening to their objectives and working together to find the right solution.

That’s one of the biggest differences I’ve found since moving from audit into captive management. Audit is, by nature, quite structured and independent, whereas captive management is highly collaborative. You’re working closely with clients, brokers, actuaries, banks, auditors and regulators, often all at the same time, so building trusted relationships is just as important as technical expertise.

That’s also why industry events remain so valuable. They provide a chance to learn about emerging trends, but just as importantly they help you build relationships with people you’ve perhaps only met over email or video calls. Those personal connections make collaboration easier and ultimately help you deliver a better service.

Looking back, that’s probably been the biggest lesson of my career. Technical expertise opens the door, but it’s the relationships you build that allow you to make a lasting difference for your clients.

If you would like to continue the conversation, get in touch with Mica Johnson, Assistant Vice President & Account Executive, Davies Captive Management at Mica.Johnson@davies-group.com