Captives are often used to complement the services and coverages that are provided by traditional insurers and reinsurers in order to provide their owners with specific financial and strategic benefits. Some of these benefits include lower insurance costs, greater coverage flexibility, improved price stability, and potential investment returns.

Captives can take several forms, varying on the basis of their number of parents (single parent vs. multi-parent), risk diversity (homogeneous vs. heterogeneous), and type of ownership and/or management (3rd party vs. self managed and/or owned). A feasibility study is typically required to analyze the benefits and structures that may apply to a particular organization.

The great majority of captives worldwide are managed by professional captive insurance management companies, or "captive managers." Licensed and regulated by the Bahrain Monetary Agency, Ensurion is the first professional insurance manager in the Middle East providing a wide range of captive insurance and risk management services.