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Twenty-one billion. That's the dollar value of merger-and-acquisition deals announced so far this year in Bermuda's re/insurance market.
The shopping spree on our island by major global entities should come as no surprise. Continued soft market conditions, coupled with the pursuit of capital efficiencies, regional and product expansion, and other strategic needs, plus the impact of technology as companies look to digitally reinvent themselves, are all key factors driving the current consolidation trend. Late last year, it was predicted that once uncertainty around the passage of the US tax-reform bill settled, M&A appetites would resurge. We are seeing that happen. This year's two major deals are the AIG-Validus takeover, worth $5.56 billion, and French insurer AXA's $15.3-billion buyout of XL Catlin.
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Diplomatic visit
Governor John Rankin talked about the need for strong jurisdictional advocacy when he brought a visiting diplomat to BDA offices this month. Rankin and Director of UK Overseas Territories Ben Merrick spoke with CEO Ross Webber and Head of Communications Rosemary Jones about the value of raising UK/European awareness of Bermuda's economic impact, particularly its re/insurance global contribution. Bermuda-based companies have paid a total of
$70 billion in claims to EU consumers over the past 20 years.
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Speaking to stakeholders
BDA CEO Ross Webber was honoured to be the invited guest speaker at KPMG Bermuda's Management Mixer this month. The monthly event for company staff features occasional speakers from the wider community. Webber talked about the BDA's mission and business-development focus in 2018, upcoming corporate events, emerging industries such as insurtech and crypto-currencies, and facts and figures the BDA offers to our stakeholders to help spread the word on Bermuda's global economic value.
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BDA Executive Forum at RIMS 2018
BDA will host a special morning forum at RIMS in San Antonio, TX, this year to promote Bermuda as the World's Risk Capital. The two-hour seminar Tuesday, April 17, will showcase the market's expertise through two panel discussions, one on Bermuda's captive insurance market, the second on trends impacting global insurance and reinsurance. Premier the Hon David Burt and BDA CEO Ross Webber will open the event. Participating industry leaders include (top row, from left): Brian Quinn, Granite Management; Shanna Lespere, COO, Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA); David Gibbons, PwC; Al Gier, General International; Sophia Greaves, Conyers Dill & Pearman; (bottom row) BDA and Willis Bermuda Chair Paul Scope; Cathy Duffy, XL Catlin; John Huff, CEO, Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR); Judy Gonsalves, Chubb Bermuda; and Jeremy Cox, CEO, BMA.
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BDA Executive Forum NYC
AIG Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault will be the keynote speaker at the
BDA's multi-industry forum May 2 in New York. Bermuda Premier the Hon David Burt and regulatory and industry leaders will discuss advantages offered by the island's global business market. Discussion panels will focus on re/insurance, asset management, high-net-worth services, cyber risk & security, long-term life & annuity solutions, captive insurance, shipping, insurance-linked securities (ILS), aviation, fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. A networking reception will close the event in the evening.
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Bermuda Captive Conference
Board diversity, female leadership, cyber risk, blockchain and climate change are among the hot topics shaping the 2018 agenda of the 14th
Bermuda Captive Conference, June 11-13 at Fairmont Southampton. The three-day agenda features a mix of moderated panels and roundtables. Debate will focus on fast-changing insurance issues, including insurtech, US tax reform, pensions and employee benefits, healthcare and cyber risk, and investment strategies. Human-rights visionary Derreck Kayongo and insurance industry leader Jonathan Reiss are this year's spotlight speakers.
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Bermuda Healthcare Forum
Sophisticated buyers from North American healthcare markets will come to Bermuda next month for the second conference promoting Bermuda's industry expertise in the growing sector. The
Bermuda Healthcare Forum attracts representatives for major hospital systems, long-term care facilities, physicians groups and health benefits and services providers. BDA, Butterfield Bank, and a growing list of locally-based brokers and commercial insurance companies are sponsoring the event, taking place April 24-25 at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.
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Canada captives roadshow
The BDA will lead a delegation of captive insurance industry and regulatory representatives to Canada this spring. The visit will target top-level executives and promote the corporate benefits of setting up a captive company in Bermuda. Visiting
Vancouver May 15 and
Toronto May 17, the event will spotlight the cost and risk-management advantages of captives for Canadian corporations. Bermuda's 2011 TIEA with Canada puts Bermuda on equal tax footing with jurisdictions that hold tax treaties with Canada.
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New cyber-risk conference
A new Bermudian edition of a successful North American cyber-risk conference will be held later this year. The inaugural
International Cyber Risk Management Conference (ICRMC) Bermuda, presented by Canada's MSA Research Inc, takes place December 6-7 at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. BDA is signature sponsor and will promote the conference at the company's
Toronto event April 11-12. The ICRMC team met with sponsors, advisors, and leaders of the island's risk-industry groups on a recent visit.
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Bermuda on Blockchain
London-based re-insurance.com is launching a new half-day event at Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) June 7 to bring together Bermuda's re/insurance community with leaders on blockchain innovation.
Bermuda on Blockchain features expert panels on topics such as insurtech, regulatory, data and tech factors, and how insurance organisations can plan and activate blockchain initiatives. The symposium partners with insurance consulting experts Xceedance and blockchain specialists ChainThat.
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Insurance market welcomes new companies, job growth
Bermuda's insurance industry has registered a
year-on-year increase in company registrations across multiple sectors, driving all-important job growth on the island. Bermuda registered a total of 58 new insurers in 2017, ranging from captives and long-term re/insurers to special purpose insurers (SPIs), compared to 42 last year, according to
Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) statistics. Some 739 active captive licences were on the BMA register at year-end, including 17 new entities, as well as six life & annuity insurance companies and 24 SPIs. Risk-sector companies were responsible for at least 61 corresponding new jobs, including 20 in the fast-expanding long-term (life and annuity) sector.
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Blockchain & cryptocurrency
The BDA and industry reps joined Minister the Hon Wayne Caines to meet venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at
a top innovation conference. The two-day Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica, CA attracted close to 1,200 attendees. Bermuda held a breakfast session for investors and start-up executives, as well as a panel titled, "Bermuda: The New Value Equation." Moderated by Narraway, it featured Caines, Chris Garrod of Conyers, and Aron Dutta, founder and CEO of Vaphr, a Bermuda-based blockchain accelerator. Bermudian Gina Pereira, CEO of private-client advisory firm Dana Philanthropy, also represented the island.
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Ship registry
The BDA introduced incoming Bermuda Shipping & Maritime Authority (BSMA) CEO, Francis Richardson, to the shipping community at the
9th annual Capital Link Greek Shipping Forum. Richardson spoke to an audience of shipping executives on the benefits of registering vessels in Bermuda, and the island's blue-chip reputation for tax transparency. Bermuda registration facilitates financing, and our white-listed flag allows ease of access to ports around the world. The forum attracted more than 1,200 attendees, from ship owners and ship-management companies, to banks, law firms and accounting practices.
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Ship finance
BDA's Kevin Richards attended the
Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) conference this month, along with BDA Board Chair Paul Scope. They were joined by representatives of the Bermuda Shipping & Maritime Authority (BSMA), Appleby and MJM to promote Bermuda as a leader in ship registration and finance. Other Bermuda attendees were Jens Alers of Bernhard Schulte, and Simon Scupham, Marilyn Feldman, Donnelle Swan, and Nicholas Taylor of Shoreline, which launched a crime/cyber insurance product.
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Asset management
The BDA joined Bermuda lawyers at this month's International Bar Association (IBA)
19th Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds in London. The event featured two days of sessions and workshops covering legal and regulatory developments affecting private equity and hedge funds, managers and investors. Beth Denman, of Conyers, represented Bermuda on a panel from EU and offshore jurisdictions. Tonesan Amissah, of Appleby, and Ariane West, of Walkers Bermuda, also attended.
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Life Sciences
BDA CEO Ross Webber joined Premier the Hon David Burt in welcoming international scientists to the
second annual Bermuda Principles conference. Organiser Dr Carika Weldon is a biomedical researcher with her own lab at DeMontfort University in Leicester, UK. In his
opening remarks, Webber noted Bermuda's legacy of scientific innovation, from deep-ocean exploration by bathosphere to our role in NASA's space programme.
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Trust & Private Client
BDA led a team of local trust experts to the
Legal Week Private Client Forum Americas in Mexico. The conference focuses on issues affecting high-net-worth individuals and families in North, South and Central America. Speakers included former Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, Katie Walsh, and Bermuda's Craig MacIntyre, who highlighted the island's quality of trust professionals. Meetings were also held with senior lawyers and advisors in Mexico City.
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Power-women powwow
Members of Bermuda's 100 Women in Finance enjoyed an inspiring conversation between Lloyd's director Fiona Luck and analyst star Meredith Whitney, a Bermuda resident. In a Q&A "
Seaside Chat" held at Bermuda National Gallery, Whitney, now an investment manager for Arch Capital, talked about how she predicted the financial crisis back in 2007-08. She also shared her perspective on how hard work and resilience can propel professionals to success.
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Leadership Summit
Our Emerging Technologies consultant John Narraway was one of numerous industry executives invited to present at the first Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit. BDA was a sponsor for the Benedict Associates event at Hamilton Princess that also saw British economist
Chris Roebuck deliver a keynote about successful leadership. Premier the Hon David Burt officially opened the event that attracted a mix of Bermuda's CEOs and entrepreneurs.
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Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI)
Meteorologist Dr Mark Guishard of the
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) gave our BDA team an update on his work, an example of science-industry synergy. Guishard directs corporate and community relations for BIOS and also runs its
Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI), a long-running project matching the island's re/insurance industry's need for cutting-edge data with high-level research on climate change, ocean ecology, and weather. The RPI provides data to members, specifically on natural hazards like hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes.
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High-school confidential
Our Lynesha Lightbourne joined over 45 industry professionals at the Berkeley Institute to participate in the school's S4 Mock Interviews & Professional Dress Day. Other participating organisations included Bermuda government, Argus, Clarien, Bermuda College, Bermuda Hospitality Institute, HSBC, Ministry of Education, BES, Deloitte, Butterfield, Atlantic Energy, B-Moto and XL Catlin. BDA was happy to participate in the session, a graduation requirement that helps prepare students for job and scholarship interviews.
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Connecting Business
The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business here smooth and beneficial. |
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