One might expect an executive taking the reins of one of Bermuda's newest insurance companies to be too busy to make coffee for the office, but not Jim Ansaldi whose philosophy is someone has to do it and it may as well be him.

Mr. Ansaldi, who took over as president of Arch Insurance on March 15, and was in fact the new venture's first employee, said: "We work as a team. Everyone knows that I make the coffee in the morning. There are no sacred cows in the company, we are all here to get the job done."

The company is so new that the office is in the short -term operating out of temporary digs in the Craig Appin House.

And there is still an active hiring process underway - Mr. Ansaldi said yesterday that another two job offers, including one from a Bermudian, had been accepted that morning.

In the last two months the company has staffed up to nine persons and a consultant, and in total, five of the nine staff are Bermudian. Mr. Ansaldi said: "I've told every single person that I've hired to date that we are going to work hard, we are going to have fun - because if you can't have fun at what you are doing than why are you in the position you are in.

But I also tell staff that there are four words - It's not my job - that will get you fired," he said.

Mr. Ansaldi first came to the Island in 1987 as a consultant for XL. He has been here ever since, working at insurance giant XL through 2000 at then he spent a year at brokerage firm Aon before taking up his new role with Arch Insurance.

And in hiring staff for the new company, Mr. Ansaldi has focused on hiring Bermudians when possible or at the very least hiring those who have already worked in the local marketplace.

Mr. Ansaldi said in some cases the hires had worked with him before at other companies. His hiring rationale has been two-fold: "I have been able to attract people that understand my mission on time, and we going to have fun too," he said.

Secondly, Mr. Ansaldi said it has been imperative to "hit the ground running" with people that already know the lay of the land, or have familiarity with Bermuda's insurance sector.

He said: "I have gone to great lengths to attract people that are already known in the local community.

"All three of our department heads were all resident and working in Bermuda market previous to joining Arch. That gives us a tremendous advantage compared to some of the people that are starting up here for the first time without necessarily knowing the local market. We have people that are known to the broking community and people that are known to the client base and that makes us a step up on some of our new competitors. This gives us a step up on our competitors even if they are a few months older than us", Mr. Ansaldi said.

Although Mr. Ansaldi said Arch has been able to find staff for its operations, pragmatically he added that there the number of qualified Bermudians are in high demand.

"So far, we have been able to get the staff we need. And our goal is to hire as many Bermudians as possible; that has been our charge. But the talent pool has thinned out quite a bit because of the new insurance start-ups and everyone is trying to get local talent. And there will be a point and time that local talent just won't be available."

Mr. Ansaldi added: "It is difficult for a start-up to hire trainees, we have to hit the ground running and that makes the opportunity to hire trainees be somewhat non-existent at this point, until we get up and running."

But Mr. Ansaldi would not be drawn on how long it has taken to get work permit applications for expatriate staff processed: "I'd have to say no comment."

Mr. Ansaldi said however that the Island's preeminence as an insurance jurisdiction has overall made it easier to attract a pool of talent. He said: "Bermuda is now recognised as an international centre for insurance. When I started business in Bermuda back in 1987 I don't think that was the case. Those were the infancy days of XL and ACE."

Mr. Ansaldi continued: "I remember trying to interest a few people in that day in to coming to Bermuda for work and they all turned me down, saying 'What is in Bermuda? Why are you going there? Bermuda is just for captives'."

But the picture is different now: "Today there are many senior executives looking towards Bermuda and saying 'Boy, wouldn't I like to be there and enhance my career'. Bermuda is recognised as an international arena for insurance which means people now look to come to Bermuda whereas in the past that was not the case. It is not the leap of faith it was 15 years ago," Mr. Ansaldi said.