This is the second in a three part series on the Bermuda Insurance Institute.

The BII does not have a strong profile in the local insurance industry because it does not advertise nor does it promote itself very heavily. In spite of that, the BII is turning out record numbers of students with professional designations because of the sharp increase in people interested in pursing insurance as a career and because the Institute tailors its courses to the industry's needs.

Director of education and training Peter Doyles attributes much of the BII's success to its Education Committee. Because his own background is in education and not in insurance, Mr. Doyles relies on this committee to come up with the courses and seminars that would be of interest to people in the industry.

Consequently, with the assistance of the Education Committee, the BII offers insurance courses held during lunch hours and early evenings to prepare students for insurance examinations, which will eventually lead them to obtaining professional designations. The professional designations currently offered by the BII include:

Bermuda Insurance Diploma (BID) - the first stepping stone to move from a locally recognised qualification to an internationally recognised designation

Associate of Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) - English professional insurance designation with international recognition

Associate of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) - American professional insurance designation with international recognition

Associate of Risk Management (ARM) & Associate of Reinsurance (ARe) - American professional insurance designations specialising in risk management and reinsurance but not as well rounded as ACII or CPCU.

Associate in Claims and Associate in Underwriting have also been added to the list of courses available.

Last year the Institute ran 18 classes with 386 course registrants. Mr. Doyles said they probably could have offered more courses but due to limited resources, they cannot offer classes for every course and at the higher-level students have to resort to self-study or group tutorials.

Although the BII started out with close links to the British professional designation, the ACII, the last five years have has seen a dramatic change in students wishing to pursue professional designations. Almost all students enrolling at the BII now want to obtain professional designations enrol in the American course, the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting Designation (CPCU) as well as other courses offered by the American Institute of Insurance.

In addition, the BII offers two types of seminars on a monthly basis:

The Basics - courses which are designed for people seeking to enter the insurance industry and are looking for an introduction to insurance Examples of these courses include captives 101, reinsurance 101, and Induction seminars

Leading Edge Seminars - courses offered to keep present employees in the industry current with what is happening in the industry. Such seminars may include securitisation, weather risk, terrorism, etc.

Mr. Doyles said it is very important to note that those who conduct the seminars volunteer their services and do not receive a fee but rather look at it as a means for giving back to the community. The most popular seminars are the breakfast sessions, which are held between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and usually attract a good cross section of people from the insurance industry and its affiliates.

The BII also hosts an Insurance Induction Seminar to assist people trying to get into the industry and another session for accountants, bankers and lawyers who work in insurance-related fields. They have four morning seminars where experts in the field are brought in to explain aspects of the Bermuda Insurance Market. Last year they held 14 seminars with 476 attendees.

The BII also holds luncheons with guest speakers on topics relevant to the insurance industry. Currently, the BII only hosts the Education Awards luncheon and the Christmas luncheon. Although these luncheons are not as popular as they were in the early stages of the BII, the BII has decided to continue to host them as part of their social responsibility of enlightening the public about what is happening in the industry while at the same time providing a forum for those in the industry to network with people they would otherwise not meet.

The BII also provides a facility for students to sit their professional designations. Last year they proctored more than 400 students sitting examinations, from 7 insurance bodies. In addition, they registered and administered four computer exams involving over 300 IIA/CPCU students. Last year alone, 69 people gained professional insurance designations from September 2001 to August 2002. These ranged from the basic courses such as the Insurance Institute of America's (IIA) Certificate of General Insurance to advanced courses such as the CPCU and ACII.

In order for the BII to offer its vast array of courses and services to the general public at reasonable rates, it was incorporated as a non-profit organisation in 1984 and relies on donations from its members. Patron members donate a minimum of $2,000 to the BII. It also relies on those who teach the courses to do so at a much-reduced rate compared to the amount of work they put into them.

The BII has 20 part-time teachers who volunteer from a cross section of the insurance industry and teach more to give back to the community than to make money.

Mr. Doyles said the BII owes a huge debt to these teachers because of the time and effort they put into teaching the courses and the fact that they make themselves so available to students. He says there is not one teacher who does not give out their telephone numbers and email addresses to their students.

Next week: How the BII has broadened its horizons and is a quiet success within the insurance industry.

Cathy Duffy is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and is now a freelance writer. She is a former executive of Zurich Global Energy and has 15 years experience in the insurance industry. She writes on insurance issues in The Royal Gazette every Monday. Feedback crduffycwbda.bm