Like many people working in Bermuda's insurance sector, Peter James did not set out to have a career in the industry; in fact he didn't even intend to be an accountant.

But he made a well-timed career change in the early 1990s that has now led to his recent promotion and appointment as the new manager of reinsurance accounting at PartnerRe Ltd.

“I actually started my career with a degree in Chemistry and I worked in Toronto for a pharmaceutical company and a hospital after college,” says the 39-year-old father of two.

“There were a lot of opportunities in Canada for people with technical backgrounds and I used my science qualifications in customer service positions and liasing with technical experts in the industry.”

He left Bermuda as a child to attend boarding school in Canada and stayed on to work there after graduating from Bishops University in Lennoxville, Quebec. After a few years working in the medical services industry he decided to turn what had been a long-time interest in accounting into a new career.

“I'm a CGA (Certified General Accountant) and I studied for my accounting qualifications while I was working full-time,” says Mr. James. “I decided to make the career change because accounting allows you work in a wide variety of different companies. In fact after I qualified I worked in food, entertainment and in a hospital. And it also opened the door for me to come back to Bermuda.”

It was while he was working as an analyst and assistant director of finance at Toronto East General Hospital that he noticed the range of accounting jobs being advertised online on The Royal Gazette website and decided to look further into opportunities on the Island.

“As a result of that I've been with PartnerRe for the past 18 months,” he says. “It was obvious that there were good opportunities in the insurance industry for people in my field.”

He returned to Bermuda in September 2003 with his wife Arlene and two daughters Clara and Alana, now aged five and two respectively, and joined the company as general accounting manager. His role primarily involved alternative risk transfer accounting as well as financial analysis, control and reporting of the company's operating expenses. He also initiated further development of the company's automated accounting systems.

Adjusting to Bermuda after being away for more than 20 years was not too difficult either personally and professionally.

“I'm loving the weather - it's particularly great in the summer for the kids, and I'm starting to adjust to the higher cost of living!” he says.

“And in terms of work the accounting jobs and experience that I had previously really helped. In Toronto the competition for accounting jobs was very high and you really had to perform at your absolute best. Coming here, the international companies themselves compete on the global stage, so the demands are similar, you have to perform at a very high level.”

He is looking forward to the challenge of the demands of his new appointment, seeing the move to reinsurance accounting as “a fantastic opportunity”.

Mr. James now has responsibility for Partner Re's reinsurance accounting team in Bermuda and he reports to the company's global division. The department conducts ongoing financial analysis and processes premiums and claims for the company's reinsurance treaties. In his new role he will direct a variety of functions and processes, anything from testing all the company's reinsurance accounting systems required by the Sarbanes Oxley Act, to leading a project to develop a system that tracks premium payment schedules for all reinsurance treaties in Bermuda using various computer applications.

“There's much more technical accounting knowledge required and I have the opportunity to really learn the reinsurance industry in a way that I probably wouldn't have anywhere else,” he says. “Partner Re is providing much support and an enormous amount of technical training which is great. It's a position that challenges me on every level as far as the skill set I've developed in the finance field is concerned, and I'm enjoying that.”