With a significant rise in the number of re/insurance companies starting up in Bermuda last year, 2008 looks set to be another big year for the industry. ALEX WRIGHT takes a look at what the Bermuda Insurance Institute is doing to get more people into the re/insurance market and trained up through the courses and workshops it offers.

Bermuda's insurance and reinsurance sector has been booming over the past 30 years, mirroring the development of the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) during the same period of time.

The BII, which was incorporated under the Bermuda Insurance Institute Act 1984 in a bid to provide and maintain a central organisation for those working in insurance, has been active in putting on a range of courses, workshops, seminars, exams and even social events related to the industry.

And this is borne out in the statistics, which reveal that 1,144 students registered for insurance exams, representing a 37.67 percent increase between 2006 and 2007, while 107 students gained insurance designations in 14 different areas of study last year, again, a rise of 12.63 percent from the total of 95 students the previous year.

Also on the rise were the number of courses taught, with 20 courses made up of a total of 351 students in 2007, an increase of 3.54 percent over 2006, and seminars and workshops were on the up with 26 of them held for a total of 1,122 attendees, again, a rise of 42.39 percent year-on-year.

One of the best ways of getting into insurance is to do the Bermuda Insurance Diploma at the BII, according to Gerald Simons, president of the BII and CEO of the Argus Group.

"First there are a group of courses for people who wish to do the Bermuda Insurance Diploma," he said.

"It is very useful for people who are new to the industry.

"It is a good foundation course for people and that is what we generally recommend people to start on."

The Diploma consists of four subjects including property and liability insurance principles, personal insurance, commercial insurance and the Bermuda insurance market for the US version. The UK version entails insurance practice and regulation, business practice, insurance law and the Bermuda insurance market. The Bermuda insurance market focuses on the growth and development of the sector, the Island's legal system and legislation, captives, reinsurance and alternate risk/finance transfer and requires students to undertake a research paper on an insurance domiciled in Bermuda.

Having got their foundation in the industry, students can then go on to specialise in certain fields by taking the Insurance Institute of America and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter courses, such as liability claims practices, reinsurance principles and practices, risk financing, foundations of risk management, insurance and professionalism and financial services institutions, a fact Mr. Simons is keen to promote.

"I expect there are not more professions that offer more designations than the insurance industry," he said. "The BII operates as an examination centre for overseas qualifications where students can come in to do their exams."

The BII also runs a variety of seminars and workshops which can vary from two hours to two days depending on the subject, which changes regularly to keep up to date with the market and its needs.

Among those workshops available are the likes of Finance for the Insurance Professional, Financial Dynamics of Insurance, Statistics for Underwriters and Managers, Powerful Performance Skills, Effective Communication Skills and Negotiations Skills.

Seminars, meanwhile, range from Insurance Induction for New Employees, Insurance Induction for Affiliated Professionals, Aggregation for Claims and the 'Follow Settlements' Doctrine - Important recent development in English Law, Recent Developments in First-party Coverage and Bad Faith, Statutory Financial Returns, Sidecars, Alternative Dispute Resolution, US Litigation and how to avoid it to the two new hot topics of Sub-prime Issues and Climate Change Issues.

In fact, the BII will be hosting a two-day seminar entitled 'Demystifying Reinsurance: A Basics of Property Casualty Reinsurance Course' in conjunction with the Reinsurance Association of America and the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers to give an insight understanding of the structure and purpose of reinsurance and an introduction to life reinsurance at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on Wednesday January 16 and Thursday January 17, with 160 delegates already signed up.

Julie Preece, the BII's director of education and training, explained that, not only does the BII offer courses, seminars and the like, but also a counselling service for anyone interested in insurance in general — in fact, she has had everyone from doctors, lawyers, accountants, police officers and firemen to even journalists step into her offices based in CedarPark Avenue.

"We can help people just looking for job advice and on getting their resume up to date and their interview skills," she said.

Mr. Simons added: "From a social perspective, the Bermudian often feels separated from the world of international business represented by the large insurance and reinsurance organisations based here.

"But anyone can walk into the BII and at least get information on how to get into the industry and get ahead in the industry."

But, aside from all the work, the BII is also very active in the social events its runs, which range from the Annual Awards Dinner and Dance held in May, where the awards for the reinsurance person of the year, lifetime achievement and young person of the year are presented, to the Education Lunch, where students are presented with their certificates and diplomas, and the Annual Christmas Lunch, which was attended by a record 270 people last year.

"The bottom line is that there are a lot of people in Bermuda studying in insurance and many of them are passing exams and getting qualifications and we are very pleased for them," said Mr. Simons.

"There has been a tremendous growth in the services we offer and courses we run and, in fact, we are running out of space at our current site in CedarPark Avenue.

"But, there will always be a need for new training for people in the industry and there is always the need for keeping people in the insurance industry up-to-date with current events.

"We have all sorts of things on in terms of seminars we are working on — we are doing one on the sub-prime issue for the US and we have got a number of visiting experts coming over and I expect that will be over-subscribed.

"The real challenge the BII faces is to be relevant to the needs of the industry."

To enrol in a course at the BII or for more information contact Julie Preece on jpreece@bii.bm or visit the website at www.bii.bm.