If the ideal of replacing expatriates in the insurance field with Bermudians is to become a reality, it's going to take a serious commitment on the part of exempt companies.

Many insurers are taking this challenge to heart by setting up the training infrastructure, filling all of their entry level positions with Bermudians and ensuring that opportunities to learn and advance are not just "token".

"The addition of the new wave of insurance companies in the marketplace has expanded opportunities for Bermudians," says Michael Morrison, president and chief executive of Allied World Assurance Company Ltd.

In the past, Bermudians have complained that after having been given entry level positions at some international companies, they never progressed to more senior roles.

"That's definitely not the case at AWAC," says Phyllis Simmons, head of human resources. She recognises that there have been isolated cases elsewhere, but says that AWAC has shown its commitment to the advancement of Bermudians. "Coincidentally, with our first anniversary we promoted six Bermudians to positions of greater responsibility."

Another Bermudian about to be promoted is someone who started out at AWAC as an office assistant. Katosha Caines joined the company from Argus Insurance where she was an administrative assistant. After only seven months she is being promoted to underwriting assistant.

"Katosha has done very well," says Ms Simmons, agreeing that the employment structure at AWAC is not rigid - it's the kind of place where you make your own opportunities. If you are bright, hard working and committed, you can move into other areas that interest you. "We pay attention to whether people get the job done," says Ms Simmons.

AWAC is proud of the fact that roughly two thirds of its employees in Bermuda are Bermudian or spouses of Bermudians.

But the lack of experienced Bermudians in the insurance field means that any Bermudian executives that AWAC acquired were lost by other insurance companies on the Island.

Mr. Morrison and Ms Simmons acknowledge that when it started up, AWAC attracted some Bermudian staff from other insurance companies, but it has also brought in Bermudians who have never worked in insurance before to entry level positions.

The trouble is, says Mr. Morrison, that the senior executive positions can require 10 years or more experience.

"The Regiment can make a soldier in two weeks," he says, "but unfortunately it's not the same in insurance."

Companies like AWAC are taking on inexperienced staff and training them, but there is going to be a time lag before the new generation of insurance staff gain sufficient experience to be able to replace work permit holders.

But to ensure that that day does come, they are supporting several education initiatives including the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies and the International Companies Educational Awards.

"We are talking about a future AWAC scholarship," says Ms Simmons. Other companies such as ACE and XL Capital currently fund Bermudians through insurance studies overseas. AWAC have also just announced a commitment to the Institute for Talented Students run by Riquette Bonne-Smith which will try to develop mathematics standards in school-age children.

In addition to education initiatives, AWAC takes people who have not studied insurance for entry level positions such as underwriting assistant, receptionist, administrative assistant and human resources.

An underwriting assistant enters data from deals that have been written and generally supports an underwriter.

They get a lot of unsolicited applications for these entry level positions because people perceive insurance as the industry of the future.

"It used to be tourism that everyone wanted to get into... now it's insurance," says Ms Simmons, adding that there is a perception that the opportunities and benefits are better at exempt companies.

Asked whether this is because local companies tend to be less proactive than international companies on the development front, Ms Simmons says: "You can't entirely blame the company, sometimes there's a level of complacency on the part of the employee."

Certainly, most of the international companies have human resources strategies which aim to encourage growth of their staff in both a personal and professional capacity.

Asked how Bermudians who have no prior insurance experience might increase their chances of getting a job somewhere like AWAC, Ms Simmons says: "For every person who has no insurance experience and expresses an interest in getting into the insurance field, there are 20 or 30 who are already in the process of studying insurance. Our first commitment has to be to those people... so I would advise them to go out and get as much learning as possible. Do a course at the Bermuda Insurance Institute, show the employer what you have done."