?I?ve always been pretty flexible; you must be willing to embrace change and then move on and up,? says Michael Rego, newly appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of XL Financial Assurance Ltd. (XLFA), XL Capital?s Bermuda-based financial guaranty reinsurance company.

And embracing change at pivotal points in his life has marked the very successful career this focused and highly experienced Bermudian executive has enjoyed in both the banking and insurance industries here in Bermuda and overseas.

He recently returned to the Island after working in London for the past four years as the chief operating officer of XL Capital Assurance (UK) Ltd.

His career at XL actually spans a very active seven years, from his initial appointment as a specialty financial lines underwriter in Bermuda in 1997, moving to the company?s structured finance group in 1998 and then on to London two years later.

Prior to joining XL, Mr. Rego worked for 15 years at the Bank of Bermuda.

?I really didn?t have insurance in mind when I started out,? says Mr. Rego. ?But it?s difficult to predict the path life might take.?

In fact the path he ended up taking is far removed from the entrepreneurial background that runs for two generations in his family.

?My family has successfully been in the grocery business and retail,? he says. ?My grandfather owned the Shopping Centre and my father started out as a messenger for the Yankee Store and went on to be the owner/operator of Stuart?s on Reid Street.

?I worked in the family business growing up, and they instilled a strong work ethic in both me and my sister, something that runs in the Portuguese Bermudian heritage.

?But ultimately I felt retail was not something that I wanted to do. My father was fine with my decision; in fact, we?re all very proud of each other and our respective achievements.?

After attending Warwick Academy, the Trinity College School in Ontario, Canada and the University of Vermont, where he earned a BA majoring in Political Science and Economics, he decided he would pursue a career in law.

?I got accepted to law school in the UK but wanted to take a year off first,? says Mr. Rego. ?I applied for a job at the Bank of Bermuda in the Treasury Department as a means of being employed just for that year. That was in 1982; I got the job and stayed with the bank for the next 15 years!?

He rose through the ranks steadily, moving from his first position as a money market dealer to eventually becoming chief dealer for the bank?s foreign exchange operations.

In 1991 he took advantage of his biggest opportunity to date at the time: accepting the assignment to become treasurer of the Hong Kong branch.

?Hong Kong was an awesome experience, extremely stimulating from both a business and personal perspective,? Mr. Rego says. ?I got to see first hand just how wide the scope of the bank?s business was, and living in Hong Kong, seeing a culture that was so different, was great for me and my family.?

By this time he and wife Kim (they were married in 1986), had three young sons, Matthew, Thomas and Alex, who are now 15, 12 and seven respectively.

After almost three years in Hong Kong he returned to Bermuda to run the capital markets dealing room at the Bank?s headquarters.

He had enjoyed a very productive and fulfilling career in banking up to that point, however by 1997 he began to feel it was time to explore a new professional challenge.

?After 15 years with the bank I wanted to do something different,? he says. ?I really appreciated the opportunities I had with them, it?s a great company and I was glad to have the opportunity to use my skills in so many different ways.

?But I was ready to do something new and I?ve been fortunate that Bermuda?s business sector has changed and developed in the way it has as my own career developed. So when I looked around I realised that there was quite a lot of opportunities for someone with my background.?

One of the emerging changes in the market was the concept of convergence between the capital markets, insurance and risk management. Even though Mr. Rego?s background was not in insurance, he was about to take on the ?something different? he had been seeking.

?XL wanted to take a leadership position in terms of looking at convergence ? which was a big buzz word at the time ? as a new business opportunity,? he says. ?I wasn?t an insurance guy but my experience on the capital markets side proved to be very relevant and a good fit for this new prospect for the business.?

He decided to make the move to XL, opening a new phase of his professional life that has brought the challenges he was looking for, together with another opportunity to use his skills in another part of the world.

?There?s been a few iterations in the financial guaranty reinsurance space, but fundamentally it?s credit underwriting with a capital markets execution and that remains the biggest opportunity,? says Mr. Rego. ?Our companies are basically renting their triple-A rating to say a bond, thereby enhancing the rating for that product.

?Also, at the end of the day an investor in an XL Capital-insured bond is enjoying a combination of the bond?s own underlying credit and our credit. It?s like an extra layer of security for the investment.?

He has clearly enjoyed accumulating knowledge and applying his experience and skills in this area of the market.

?It?s an area where you see a natural convergence between the insurance product and capital market instruments that adds true value,? he says. ?It was also a great opportunity to work in another major financial centre abroad, dealing directly with clients and bankers. In Bermuda you can feel somewhat isolated from direct interface with the market, so having that was quite exciting,? he says.

?And my family was also able to appreciate the benefit of living in a different environment once again. I think my children have learned valuable lessons in life by living outside of Bermuda; it?s important to get kids to appreciate what they have here, sometimes being away from Bermuda is the best way to do that.?

And according to Mr. Rego the entire family also got the football bug as part of their UK experience: ?I?m a big Arsenal supporter and I spent quite a bit of time at Highbury enjoying the games; in the end the whole family got into it.?

Now that he is back in Bermuda Mr. Rego will have a different focus in terms of his day-to-day responsibilities.

?Whereas in the London operation which was basically a start-up which requires concentrating on getting business in the door and focusing on things like marketing, here I?ll be focused more on the operational and finance type issues in terms of managing the portfolio of risks at XLFA.?

He will also be heading up a team of 12 people, the vast majority of whom are Bermudians.

?In fact the key positions in the team are held by Bermudians,? he says. ?They are extremely talented and very qualified. To XL?s credit the company has ensured that people here are given every opportunity to be developed professionally.?

Mr. Rego says that, as a Bermudian who has himself achieved success within international business, he remains optimistic that locals will continue to be presented with professional opportunities as growth in the sector continues, and that they should ensure they are prepared to take advantage of those opportunities.

?I?ve been exceptionally fortunate in my career path and have had the benefit of working for great companies,? he says. ?Companies like XL appreciate the real value of having Bermudians with overseas experience.

?So besides having the obvious things like a good education and a solid work ethic when in the job market or setting professional goals, if you can get international experience that is a great benefit. I?m also a firm believer in sticking to certain core principles in terms of how you conduct yourself and deal with people. In certain situations attitude can weigh in more than aptitude.

?And even if you sometimes think you?ve bitten off more than you can chew, you have to stick with the task at hand and make it work,? he adds. ?Take risks while you?re young, be aggressive to make good things happen.?