Carl Nanton epitomises the work of the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII), having firstly studied courses there, he now finds himself training its students.

Mr. Nanton, who doubles as the assistant vice-president of life and pensions at the Argus Group, has spent 40 years in the insurance industry, starting off in the UK, where he attained his Chartered Insurance Institute qualification, before moving on to Canada, where a Fellow of the Life Management Institute soon followed, and then arrived in Bermuda.

He decided to do a diploma in risk management at the BII and was then invited to join the Institute's education committee, which he chaired for two years, and became a teacher, which he is still doing to this day, lecturing in personal insurance.

"In my career, which is over 40 years, I was lucky to work in different aspects of the business and found it extremely interesting and challenging," he said.

"I had good teachers and peers and I had a feeling that I wanted to give something back, to pass on that knowledge and experienced I had gained.

"Understanding the insurance industry is so important because there are some unique principles that apply to the insurance business that don't apply to other businesses — during my time in insurance I have worked with accountants, actuaries, underwriters, claims people and administrators.

"I contacted the BII and let them know I would be interested in teaching and I am still teaching and I get quite a bit of satisfaction out of it.

"Some of the students are obviously very enthusiastic, which provides a good opportunity for discussion and then you can apply the knowledge and experience to different situations to help them fully appreciate certain concepts.

"One of the good things about the courses at the BII is that halfway through each course that is taught there, the students are asked to complete an assessment of the teaching and the style of the lecturer and that provides good feedback to the Institute so that you can make whatever modifications that you need to be more effective."