Insurance industry leader and stalwart Bob Clements died of esophageal cancer at on Saturday at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, aged 77.

Mr. Clements, who founded and led a number of global insurers such as Arch Capital Group, Ace, XL and Mid-Ocean, as well as international brokerage firm Integro Insurance Brokers, would have turned 78 today.

He was renowned as a visionary who revolutionised global insurance markets by repeatedly introducing innovation, capacity and competition.

Mr. Clements was most recently the founder and served as a member of the board of directors of Ironshore Inc. since its formation four years ago.

In a statement, Kevin Kelley, chairman and CEO of Ironshore Inc., said: "It was Bob's foresight and respected reputation that drove the formation of Ironshore. His innovative approach to international business and leadership qualities have greatly fuelled the evolutionary expansion of the global insurance landscape and Ironshore's place in it."

Mr. Kelley added that Mr. Clements' contributions to heightening insurance industry excellence "will continue to resonate throughout international markets now and in the future".

Mr. Clements also has a scholarship named afater him - The Robert Clements/Ace Scholarship - which is in its 15th year, is awarded to Bermudian students interested in pursuing careers in the international insurance industry and is given annually for up to four years to a qualified student working full-time towards an undergraduate or graduate degree in insurance, risk management, actuarial science or related subject such as accounting, law or economics.

Forbes Magazine said: "Robert Clements became a legend making big money in Bermuda insurance."

Mr. Clements, who started his career in 1957 as an underwriting trainee with the Royal Insurance Company in New York, rose to the position of president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan's brokerage business in 1987, and then served as president and vice-chairman of Marsh's parent company, MMC.

He later founded and served as CEO of the firm's private equity business, MMC Capital, before retiring from Marsh in 1996. He continued to launch new companies and invigorate insurance markets following his retirement from Marsh, and in his seventh and eighth decades launched Arch Capital Group, Ironshore and Integro.

Mr. Clements served as chairman of the Risk Foundation, chairman of the board of overseers for the School of Risk Management at St. John's University, and overseer for the Institute for Civil Justice. He served the US Government as a member of its Services Policy Advisory Committee and of the President's Advisory Commission on Product Liability, and was the recipient of The Free Enterprise Award in 1987.

A lifelong supporter of democracy and freedom, Mr. Clements and his family established the Robert Clements Professorship of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College, and helped to fund various programmes such as Bill Moyers' Journal on public television as well as other educational, environmental and public affairs efforts.

Mr. Clements was born in 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest son of John Clements and Mildred Chapman Clements. Following his graduation from Evanston High School in 1950, he attended Dartmouth College, where he majored in Government. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1954 and served in the US Army, stationed in Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He married Marilyn Trexler on December 27, 1955.

One of his favourite pursuits was canoeing and kayaking on New England rivers, his beloved Long Island Sound, and in the Caribbean.

He was a competitive tennis player, a pianist and life-long lover of jazz.

Mr. Clements is survived by his wife, Marilyn, of 55 years; his four children, Paula Sager of Providence, Rhode Island, John Clements of Southport, Connecticut, Jeff Clements of Concord, Massachusetts, and Ben Clements of Newton, Massacusetts their four spouses and 12 grandchildren.