Family and friends of students graduating from courses offered by The Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) gathered at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess to celebrate their new insurance designations.

It was the second largest awards ceremony with 44 students receiving designations from the BII, the Insurance Institute of America, the Chartered Insurance Institute and the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (CPCU).

None was prouder than Aon Insurance Manager's James R. Wandler who picked up his certification as an Associate Risk Manager (ARM) an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) and his CPCU designation.

The presentations were made by Kenneth Dauscher, PhD CPCU, AIM and Senior Vice President of the American Institute for CPCU and Senior Vice President of the Insurance Institute of America.

Mr. Dauscher spoke about distance learning and highlighted the reasons why people continue to study as being career development, knowledge and skills to use in their job, and for personal achievement. "In today's world, the need has never been greater for those who can think, analyse, solve problems and communicate," Mr. Dauscher told those gathered.

He also said that the future growth of online and distance learning would be "phenomenal" due to competition in the workplace and corporate cost cutting becoming more influential.

Improving technology will also aid in the online learning revolution, but Mr. Dauscher highlighted the pros and cons of distance learning and said it was likely that in the future a blend of distance and classroom learning would probably be ideal. Director of Training for the BII, Peter Doyles, agreed with the blend of a virtual and a real classroom and said: "It will be a great opportunity for all of us."

Mr. Doyles also said of the awards ceremony: "We are always pleased to see students reach their goals in professional development. The BII has been a conduit for hundreds of students to gain professional insurance delegations and it is most gratifying at this point to be able to recognise so many hard working students at our annual awards luncheon."

See Page 25 for the full list

of graduates