Former RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. president and chief operating officer Bill Riker died on Saturday in the US, aged 50, five years after being diagnosed with cancer.

Mr. Riker, who was one month away from his 51st birthday, joined RenRe in its founding year of 1993 and was in charge of enterprise-wide modelling and underwriting, fulfilling a number of roles, including senior vice-president, vice-president of underwriting and chief underwriting officer during his time at the company.

Mr. Riker, who was also the president and CEO of Glencoe Group Holdings Ltd., the company's Dallas-based segment, retired from his post at RenRe in 2008 and the company set up the annual Bill Riker Scholarship for Young Sailors award in partnership with the Bermuda Sloop Foundation to mark the event and reflect his love of sailing and his contributions to Bermuda's community.

Neill Currie, president and CEO of RenRe, said: "Bill was a great friend and an integral part of the RenaissanceRe story. Those of us who knew Bill will always remember his energy, intelligence, warmth, love of family and love of the company. He contributed immeasurably to its success. His legacy lives on in all of us at RenaissanceRe and we will miss him dearly."

Prior to joining RenRe, Mr. Riker was vice-president of Applied Insurance Research (AIR) Inc., one of the world's leading catastrophe modelling firms, where he was responsible for marketing and educating clients about AIR's CATMAP product. He was also senior vice-president, overseeing treaty and facultative operations, and chief underwriting officer at New York based reinsurer, American Royal Reinsurance Company.

Mr. Riker is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, and he holds a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. He is a board member of the International Hurricane Research Center and Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. In addition, he serves on the Board of Visitors of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, and is a Foundation Board Member of Red Bank Community YMCA.

In September 2008, he was appointed as a non-executive director on Benfield's board.

Mr. Riker, who was a father, was a member of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and the Mid Ocean Club and his hobbies included sailing and golf.