The co-chairs of a new professional liability insurance symposium say the success of the event this week has made it a ?must attend? on the sector?s annual calendar.

The Professional Liability Underwriting Society?s (PLUS) ?Bermuda Perspective? ? held Monday and Tuesday at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess ? attracted a star line-up of industry participants as well as well-known political pundits James Carville and Mary Matalin as the keynote speakers at a Tuesday lunch.

Attendance for the the fledgling event ? held for the first time last year, and now slated to take place every year during the first week of May ? increased 20 percent year on year, PLUS Bermuda co-chairs David Bell and Patrick Tannock told yesterday.

Mr. Bell, a senior vice-president and global professional lines manager for Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC), said he was happy to achieve several objectives through the symposium for the benefit of both the Island and the sector.

?From the perspective of organising the event I had three main objectives; success for PLUS as an event, success for Bermuda hosting visitors that may return again for business or pleasure, and success politically by introducing Premier [Alex Scott and Deputy Premier [Ewart Brown to Mary [Matalin and James [Carville. I think it was a great few days in all three categories.?

Ms Matalin and Mr. Carville dined on Monday night with a cross-section of Government dignitaries and insurance sector executives.

?We had great feedback from attendees at the event conclusion. I also sit on the PLUS national board and Bermuda hosted one of our four annual board meetings this past weekend.

?Many board members brought their spouses. Everyone had a great time and left with a very positive perception of the Island,? he said.

The 2005 symposium drew just under 300 delegates this year, up from 240 in its first year.

Mr. Bell said the PLUS symposium is now to be an annual event following the unexpected success of what could have been a one-off event last year.

Mr. Tannock, a senior vice-president, professional liability and chief underwriting officer, Corporate Officers and Directors Assurance Ltd. (CODA) at ACE Bermuda, said his objective in co-chairing the event was to enhance and promote Bermuda?s reputation as a leading international insurance domicile.

He said this was achieved ?by assembling the top intellectual capital in the market to provide a perspective on firstly, topical issues impacting the global professional liability market place and secondly, the uniqueness and criticality of Bermuda?s ever evolving role as a diversified and dynamic professional liability market.?

Mr. Tannock said feedback on ?the quality of the panel discussions? as well as the 20 percent increase in attendance left him confident that objectives had been achieved.

He said the Bermuda PLUS, only its second year, ?has now been established as a must attend event on the global professional liability calendar?.