Hawai'i insurance commissioner J.P. Schmidt and captive insurance administrator George Sumner traveled to Tokyo this week to promote the state's growing captive insurance industry.

Hawai'i has become the top location worldwide for Japanese companies to set up captive insurance companies, a special type of firm set up by a company or association to self-insure against risks.

There are 18 captive insurance companies in Hawai'i owned by Japanese firms, according to a news release from the insurance commissioner's office. The subsidiaries provide insurance for their parent companies in the U.S. or elsewhere globally.

Schmidt and Sumner hosted a seminar Monday — pitching the benefits of setting up a captive insurance subsidiary in Hawai'i versus other locations — that drew 145 participants to the Imperial Hotel.

Hawai'i has been seeking more business after having established itself as the country's second-largest home for captive insurers behind Vermont. There are 163 active captive insurance companies here and the state ranks 10th worldwide as a center for the insurers, according to the news release.

"Interest in new captives in Hawai'i continues to be strong, and Hawai'i's captive industry continues to do a superior job in meeting the dynamic insurance and risk financing needs of business in the U.S. and abroad," said Sumner in a news release.

The state said the industry here had combined assets of $7 billion, about $1.1 billion of which was invested in or through Hawai'i-based banks or other financial institutions.

The Insurance Division estimates the captive industry generates about $20 million in direct spending here, through the hiring of attorneys and other local professionals, board of directors' meetings and other spending.

The state's captive insurance business was set up in 1986 through a law that passed the Legislature. Hawai'i is one of only a few jurisdictions in the world where a dedicated government branch oversees the development and regulation of the industry.