Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, a former leader of the famed Hurricane Hunters programme, will deliver the keynote address at Convergence 2026, Bermuda's flagship conference for the insurance-linked securities and alternative reinsurance market.

Registration has opened for the event, which will be held at the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club from October 12 to 14 and is expected to draw investors, fund managers, reinsurers, brokers and regulators from across the global ILS sector.

Ms Hann retired this year after serving as deputy under secretary for operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the agency's most senior leadership positions. Earlier in her career, she commanded NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center in Florida, home to the Hurricane Hunters aircraft that fly directly into tropical storms and hurricanes to gather weather data.

Organisers said her keynote address will focus on the intersection of science, leadership, risk and decision-making in uncertain environments.

The choice of speaker demonstrates the close relationship between weather science and the risk-transfer markets that have become a cornerstone of Bermuda's international business sector. Data collected by hurricane reconnaissance flights helps improve forecasting and catastrophe modelling, tools relied upon by reinsurers, catastrophe bond sponsors and ILS investors to assess and price risk.

Hanni Ali, chairman of ILS Bermuda, said Convergence provides a platform for dialogue across the global ILS ecosystem.

“As the market continues to mature and evolve, it is increasingly important that investors, issuers and industry leaders come together to exchange perspectives, challenge assumptions and explore the opportunities shaping the future of risk transfer,” she said.

A new feature of this year's conference will be a dedicated Investors' Afternoon, a closed-door forum for end investors and providers of risk-bearing capital. Held under Chatham House Rule ahead of the main conference programme, the session will encourage candid discussion about market developments, investment perspectives and the future direction of the asset class.

The conference comes as Bermuda's ILS sector plays a central role in transferring catastrophe risk from insurers and reinsurers to institutional investors and help provide additional capacity for natural disaster coverage worldwide. Bermuda insurers accounted for about 92 per cent of global alternative capital in 2024, according to industry data.