Business Insurance ("BI'') has published a list of the 35 highest-paid chief executive officers among the leading insurers and reinsurers. Five Bermuda-based CEOs make the list: Brian Duperreault (who placed 9th on the list of 35), Brian O'Hara (10th), Herbert Haag (18th), Robert Mulderig (20th) and Victor Blake (27th).

Two of the top three places are held by bankers, emphasising the way in which banking and insurance draw ever closer in a process known as `convergence'.

The table confirms the absolute dominance of his field by one man: Maurice R.

(Hank) Greenberg, who has been the CEO of American International Group (AIG) since 1968. The market value of Mr. Greenberg's shares in American International Group, Business Insurance reports, exceeds $1.5 billion.

American International Group, which maintains offices on Richmond Road, is the largest financial services group in the world and among the 20 largest companies in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Mr. Greenberg's holding pales into relative insignificance next to that of the man who placed 35th on the chart of 35: Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet earned $100,000 in cash compensation in 1998 as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. His personal shareholding in the company was worth $30.162 billion on August 20, 1999, when the tables were compiled.

By comparison with Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Buffet, everyone else on the list is a junior partner.

Not one of the five Bermuda CEOs on the list received as much cash compensation as the average of the group of 35, which was about $2.17 million in cash, a 23.8 percent increase from 1997, when the average was $1.75 million.

Among the Bermuda CEOs: Mr. Duperreault heads ACE Ltd. His cash compensation for 1998 was $2,062,500, a raise of 19 percent on his 1997 compensation of $1,731,258.

Duperreault, O'Hara make list of well paid CEOs Were an annual salary at the level of Mr. Duperreault's paid entirely in cash, the Bermuda payroll tax alone would be $247,500 a year. Mr. Duperreault held shares in ACE worth $6.384 million on August 20, 1999.

Mr. O'Hara, who heads up XL Capital Ltd., enjoyed cash compensation of $1.9 million in 1998, up 46 percent on the $1.3 million he made a year earlier. Mr.

O'Hara held shares in XL worth $15.3 million.

Mr. Haag, who heads PartnerRe Ltd., had cash compensation in 1998 of $1.225 million, an increase of only 6.5 percent on the $1.15 million he earned in 1997. His shareholding in PartnerRe was worth $18.3 million.

Mr. Mulderig, CEO of Mutual Risk Management Ltd., earned cash compensation of $1,114,485 in 1998, about 19 percent more than 1997's $939,192. His shares in MRM were worth $13.1 million on August 20, 1999.

Mr. Blake is CEO of LaSalle re Holdings Ltd. His cash compensation in 1998 was $800,000, down almost a third from $1,156,877 the year before. Mr. Blake's holdings in LaSalle Re were worth $1.06 million.

The value of stock holdings can be misleading. If Mr. Greenberg were to announce that he intended to sell his shares in AIG, the market would not pay him what the shares are currently valued at by the stock market, since for many people Mr. Greenberg is AIG.

The information contained in the Business Insurance report is available from public sources, notably the quarterly and annual filings of the publicly-quoted companies. The chart contains a number of interesting insights. The best-paid CEO in the industry is John Reed, of Citibank, whose cash compensation in 1998 was $9.525 million. Jon Boscia, CEO of Lincoln Financial Group, had a raise of 885.9 percent in 1998.

CHART INSURANCE CEO COMPENSATION Rank Cash Compensation Market value CEO Age Company 1998($m) 1997($m) 1999($m) 1.John S.Reed 60 Citigroup 9.525 4.000 7.836 2.Saul P. Steinberg 59 Reliance Group 8.450 5.300 0.173 3.Sanford I. Weill 65 Citigroup 7.193 7.193 442.474 4.Maurice R. Greenberg 73 AIG 6.000 4.650 1,507,517 5.Wilson H. Taylor 55 CIGNA 4.869 3.270 18.151 9.Brian Duperreault 51 ACE 2.063 1.731 6.384 10.Brian O'Hara 50 XL Capital 1.900 1.300 15.299 18.Herbert N. Haag 52 PartnerRe 1.225 1.150 18.597 20.Robert A. Mulderig 46 MRM 1.114 0.939 13.134 27.Victor H. Blake 63 LaSalle Re 0.800 1.157 1.059 Chart shows top five highest paid CEOs, followed by the Bermuda-based insurers who make the list Brian Dupperreault Brian O'Hara Herbert Haag Robert Mulderig Well paid: Sixty-three-year-old Victor Blake, CEO at LaSalle Re, who ranked 27th in the Business Insurance list