Organisers yesterday closed the door on yet another highly successful RIMS (Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc.) Conference in San Diego.

A record near 11,000 people registered to attend RIMS this year, indicating the annual conference's growing acceptance as an important insurance marketplace. A total of 3,842 exhibitors were present at more than 750 exhibits across the San Diego Convention Centre and 397 speakers gave their views during a host of panel discussions and seminars. A survey conducted by RIMS and Ernst & Young LLP also indicated emerging trends in risk financing that spells good new for Bermuda. In preliminary results just released from the 1998 RIMS Benchmark Survey, captives were seen as a very viable option for financing risk. And even in a continuing competitive insurance market employers are seeking new applications for captives.

About 20 percent of more than 730 respondents indicated they use a captive as part of their risk financing programme. And 13 percent said they saw more uses for captives in the coming year.

There's also a greater variety of captive structures, with the use of more rent-a-captive facilities.

Last year saw the emergence of interest in integrating property/casualty risks with other treasury risks. And there's new interest in using capital markets risk financing techniques.

There's also a strong interest among survey respondents in evaluating Year 2000 coverages.

RIMS is the world's largest association for risk management. The not-for-profit organisation is geared towards advancing the practice of risk management, a discipline that is designed to protect physical, financial and human resources. RIMS represents nearly 4,500 industrial, service, non-profit, charitable and governmental entities, and some 7,800 members, many who are risk managers.

RIMS was founded in 1950 as the National Insurance Buyers' Association and adopted the RIMS name in 1975, and now has 95 chapters across the US and Canada.

BUSINESS BUC