When the conventional policy stops making sense, change the structure — not the protection.

Alternative risk transfer is the toolbox the largest brokerages reserve for their largest clients: captives, parametric triggers, reinsurance-backed programs, structured retentions. We bring the same toolbox to businesses the big firms overlook — with honest advice about which tool, if any, you actually need.

Coverage options

Captive Insurance Programs

Group, single-parent, and cell captives for businesses ready to retain their predictable losses and keep the underwriting profit. The flagship ART structure — explored in depth on our captive insurance page.

Parametric & Index-Based Covers

Pre-agreed payouts triggered by measured events — wind speed, hail size, rainfall, shake intensity — paying in days instead of adjustment cycles. Detailed on our parametric insurance page.

Reinsurance-Backed Programs

Facultative support, quota share structures, and fronting arrangements that let multiple markets share a risk no single carrier will hold. Covered fully on our reinsurance solutions page.

Large Deductibles & Self-Insured Retentions

Structured retentions that trade premium for skin in the game — right when your loss control genuinely outperforms your class and the market won't price it. We model the retention against your actual loss curve first.

Structured & Multi-Year Programs

Multi-year, loss-sensitive structures that smooth pricing across market cycles and reward good years — protection against the renewal whiplash that volatile classes get quoted every twelve months.

Excess & Surplus Lines

Freedom-of-rate-and-form markets for risk the admitted market declines — often the simpler, faster alternative worth exhausting before any structure above. Our specialty & complex risk desk covers this in depth.

Why clients choose Geneva Insurance Group

The Cheapest Structure That Fits

ART is a means, not a merit badge. We price the conventional and surplus-lines routes first, and recommend structure only when it genuinely beats them — you'll see the comparison, not just the conclusion.

One Desk, Whole Market

Standard carriers, surplus lines, parametric markets, captive facilities, reinsurance capacity — evaluated together by one independent desk, so the answer isn't shaped by which department picked up the phone.

A Specialist Bench On Call

Actuaries, captive managers, fronting carriers, and reinsurers — we coordinate the specialists a structure needs and translate their work into plain language, so you make the decision understanding it.

Honest Gatekeeping

Most businesses that ask about ART don't need it yet — and hearing that is free. The feasibility conversation costs you a premium summary and loss runs, not a consulting engagement.

Frequently asked questions

What is alternative risk transfer?

The family of risk-financing structures beyond the conventional insurance policy: captives, parametric covers, reinsurance-backed programs, structured retentions, and multi-year loss-sensitive deals. The common thread is moving from renting protection at the market's price to structuring how much risk you keep, how much you transfer, and on what terms.

When should a business consider ART?

Watch for three signals: your annual premium is meaningful (roughly $150,000+) and your losses run consistently better than your class with no pricing reward; your class has little or no standard-market appetite regardless of your performance; or your exposure is event-driven and volatile in ways traditional adjustment handles badly. Any one of them is worth a conversation; none of them is automatic.

Is alternative risk transfer only for Fortune 500 companies?

It used to be. Group captives, cell facilities, and parametric MGAs have brought the entry point down to upper-middle-market businesses — the trucking fleet, the security firm, the multi-state contractor. What hasn't scaled down is the need for honest feasibility work, which is exactly the part we lead with.

Where do we start?

A risk-financing review: your current program, premium summary, and three to five years of loss runs. We map where you're paying for volatility you don't have, where the market is failing your class, and which structures — if any — the numbers support. If the answer is "stay conventional, but shop it harder," that's what you'll hear.