Scottish Re Group Limited has pledged $25,000 a year for the next five years to the Bermuda Foundation For Insurance Studies (BFIS) to assist students the insurance industry.

Scott Willkomm, CEO and president of Scottish Re, said the company has a very strong commitment towards education and training.

"As the industry has grown the industry there is a need a for well trained and highly qualified staff and if we can invest in the younger generation we will build a larger talent pool to draw from in the long term," Mr. Wilkomm said.

While this is the first time Scottish Re has a made a donation to BFIS, the company has been involved in other charitable activities and is a charter member in sponsoring an enterprise risk management programme at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

"BFIS provides wonderful opportunities to Bermudian students through their scholarship, mentoring, career guidance and internship programmes and we are delighted to be able to support them.

"Encouraging Bermudians to enter this vibrant sector of Bermuda's economy is of paramount importance with wonderful opportunities for interesting careers in a global environment."

Brian Hall, chairman of BFIS, said: "Since BFIS was founded ten years ago, we have seen our programmes grow steadily in order to keep up with the pace of growth in the insurance sector."

"The calibre of our scholarship graduates is consistently high, with some of our early scholarship recipients already reaching senior positions within their companies."