Working your way to the top of a publicly traded insurance company just got a whole lot more attractive, with the majority of top executives owning at least $1 million in shares.

Axis Capital president and chief executive officer John Charman blew the competition away this year with shares valued at $221 million as he topped the list of Bermuda insurance executives with the most valuable portfolio of shares in his or her publicly-listed company, according to the InsideBermuda online newsletter, published by KYC News.

Mr. Charman formed the company in 2001 and as of June 30 it reported total capitalisation of $5.8 billion and total assets of $15.6 billion. The company's full-year profit topped $1 billion in 2007.

Coming in a distant second was Ace's chairman, president and CEO Evan Greenberg who has more than the $66 million in shares.

In third place was Arch Capital's president and CEO, Constantine Iordanou, 58, with shares in his employer worth $61 million.

The top ten executives each had at least $20 million worth of shares and even lower down the list most people could still count themselves as millionaires. Seventy-six percent of the 80 executives whose shareholdings were reviewed by InsideBermuda had portfolios with a market value of at least $1 million.

But the executive who has seen his portfolio plummet the most — despite owning more shares than he did last year — was XL Capital's former president and CEO Brian O'Hara.

In the space of 13 months his portfolio dropped by more than $100 million. Last year he was second on the list with a holding valued at $133 million. However, this year he is in seventh spot with $31 million in XL shares, despite owning approximately 80,000 more shares than he did last year. This is because the company's share price has dropped from $81.56 to $17.89 over the year.

Former XL chief operating officer, Henry Keeling, also saw his portfolio value fall $28 million over the last year to $10 million despite increasing his shareholding.

RennaissanceRe ranked the highest in terms of companies, with three of its executives ranked within the top 12; John Nichols, Jr. owns shares worth $27 million; CEO Neill Currie's shares are worth $21 million, and Kevin O'Donnell has shares worth $18 million.

The list proved particularly inspirational to young insurance workers with 10 percent of the top earners being 40 or younger. Topping the list of young officers was Axis Capital's John Gressier, who has shares worth $19 million, good enough for 11th spot overall despite being just 40 years old. Arch Capital's Marc Grandisson, who is also 40, holds shares valued at $13 million and came in 22nd overall while Aspen Insurance's James Few, 36, owns shares worth $3 million, which put him in 50th.

The youngest person in the entire list was 35-year-old Michael McGuire, CFO of Endurance Specialty, whose shares were worth $2.5 million, which put him in 53rd place overall.

Women accounted for less than one percent of the list of top earners with XL's Fiona Luck having the largest holdings, valued at $8 million, which earned her 26th spot on the overall list.

InsideBermuda's review was based on filings that Bermuda's publicly-listed insurers filed this year with regulator the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

TOP SHAREHOLDINGS OF INSURANCE EXECUTIVES

Name Company Shares Total holding

1 John Charman Axis 6,973,012 $220,905,020

2 Evan Greenberg Ace 1,298,299 $65,823,759

3 Constantine Iordanou Arch 869,359 $60,620,403

4 Joseph Taranto Everest Re 683,612 $55,919,462

5 Kenneth LeStrange Endurance 1,348,000 $41,248,800

6 Patrick Thiele PartnerRe 532,420 $37,439,774

7 Brian O'Hara XL Capital 1,709,874 $30,589,646

8 John Nichols, Jr. RenRe 520,996 $26,503,067

9 Chris O'Kane Aspen 904,771 $22,972,136

10 Neill Currie RenRe 411,159 $20,915,658

11 John Gressier Axis 609,739 $19,316,532

12 Kevin O'Donnell RenRe 346,751 $17,639,223

13 Bruno Meyenhofer PartnerRe 240,311 $16,898,670

14 Anthony Taylor Montpelier Re 1,060,913 $16,656,334

15 Brian Dowd Ace 324,646 $16,459,552

16 John Vollaro Arch 233,567 $16,286,627

17 William Fischer Axis 507,992 $16,093,187

18 Albert Benchimol PartnerRe 226,256 $15,910,322

19 Philip Bancroft Ace 294,097 $14,910,718

20 Mark Watson III Argo Group 414,664 $14,115,163