Bermuda?s increasing stature as a world-class insurance market shines through in the line-up of executives slated to jet into the Island next month to talk about the sector?s biggest achievements, and headaches.

Michael Butt, chairman of the World Insurance Forum advisory committee said Bermuda is the ideal place for the industry?s biggest names to come together, with a range of issues pressing on the sector.

?Bermuda, which has now become the world?s single largest concentration of capital, is particularly pleased to act again as the forum for thought leaders to debate the current and longer term challenges,? he said.

?To the degree to which Bermuda has consolidated and increased its position, the stature of the World Insurance Forum (a biennial event) has increased,? he told . Mr. Butt added that Bermuda, now a leading market, today finds itself at the ?centre of what is debated in the global marketplace?.

The 2006 Forum, taking place on February 22 and 23 at the Fairmont Southampton, has been designed to allow frank discussion, and some reflection, after what has been one of the sector?s most tumultuous years, organisers said.

The insurance industry has faced any number of hurdles in the last year, from broad regulatory scrutiny led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to the most expensive run of losses ever from record hurricane activity in the US, compounded by costly catastrophes elsewhere.

Some of those who are confirmed to take part in the industry event include insurance executives who have recently risen to the top of under-fire companies, like commercial insurance giant American International Group Inc., and brokerage Marsh Inc. Both companies were at the centre of the investigations led by Mr. Spitzer.

?The biggest issue facing the industry is the greater and greater concentrations of risk and the growing number of catastrophes, and the capital required to meet those two challenges,? Mr. Butt said. And he said regulatory issues, a big issue in recent years, continues to be a pressing concern.

While Bermuda has drawn nigh on $20 billion in new capital since record losses in the US last year (see today?s story on Bermuda becoming the capital capital), Mr. Butt said the sector?s leaders are questioning if the marketplace could just become too expensive to operate in. ?Whether the industry can continue to give adequate returns to warrant investor interest,? is very much on minds, he said. The World Insurance Forum, a not-for-profit organisation, uses proceeds from the event to provide scholarships to students working towards insurance careers. Funds are raised through sponsorship by insurers and firms that service the industry ? including accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, XL Capital, RenaissanceRe, Axis Capital, Risk Management Solutions and Catlin ? and delegate fees.