A strong Bermuda presence at a major conference for the insurance industry is vital for the Island, Finance Minister Bob Richards said last night.

Mr Richards — speaking en route to the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) conference in Denver, Colorado — said: “It’s a great marketing exercise for us.

“It’s the premier insurance conference and Bermuda is a premier insurance domicile. It’s very important we continue to show the market our commitment to it.”

Mr Richards said the conference, expected to attract at least 10,000 major players in the industry, was a leading venue for Bermuda to drum up new investment — and protect existing business from predators.

He added: “It gives us an opportunity to meet people — often, it’s easier to meet at these conferences that to meet in Bermuda. It’s a great opportunity to meet members in the sector.”

Mr Richards said: “Mainly, it’s to basically show the flag at the most prominent conference in Bermuda’s most important sector.”

He added that — as major competitors like the Caymans and British Virgin Islands were represented — it was vital that Bermuda should put up a high-profile showing to attract businesses looking at offshore bases.

Mr Richards said: “Our presence there, and accessibility to, people who are thinking about it or businesses whose business it is to follow companies to offshore domiciles. It’s a chance for them to talk to us.”

He added that the last RIMS conference was held only months after the OBA won power.

Mr Richards said: “We went there pretty much as a brand-new Government which had a story to tell about the new Government’s commitment to the industry and I think that’s very important when people are contemplating where to set up a captive or and insurance company or an insurance-linked security.”

He added that it was always hard to tell how much new business could be enticed to Bermuda.

Mr Richards said: “You never know with these things — but we have to be there. Other countries are there, other places we compete with. Just in terms of the competition, we need to be there. We must never forget we live in a competitive world.”

And he pointed out that — if Bermuda failed to fly the flag — business could be lost to other jurisdictions who did attend RIMS.

Premier Craig Cannonier will lead the Island’s political representation at the conference, which will also see around 200 industry delegates from the Island travel to Denver.

Along with Mr Richards, Education and Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons, senior civil servants and Bermuda Monetary Authority CEO Jeremy Cox will also attend.

Bermuda will host its own booth, modelled on traditional Island architecture, and lay on a Bermuda reception organised by the Business Development Authority (BDA) featuring Bermuda food specialities and cocktails and a jazz and blues band led by saxophonist Gianluca Gibbons, who is currently studying at the La Sierra University in California.