The Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies’ Chairman Emeritus, Brian Hall OBE, grew up in Bermuda, having arrived from England with his parents in the early 1950’s. Following his graduation in 1958 from Saltus Grammar School, he started his career in Bermuda’s insurance industry by joining American International.

In 1964, he moved to International Risk Management Ltd., a captive management company and five years later founded Inter-Ocean Management Ltd.

Mr. Hall says a year later, Johnson & Higgins (J & H), a major global insurance broker, based in New York, appointed Inter-Ocean to manage their client business in Bermuda.

“Ultimately we were responsible for managing clients of Willis Faber, London, and Tokyo Marine, Japan and by 1978 we had 17 offices all over the world,” he recalls.

J & H acquired the business in 1979, and 10 years later Brian became the only non-US Partner and Director of the company.

When the partners of J&H resolved to merge the company with Marsh & McLennan in 1997, Mr. Hall says he was prompted to take an early retirement.

But insurance remained close to his heart. He tells The Royal Gazette: “I was concerned that so many Bermudians wanted to get into the insurance industry, but lacked the required qualifications.”

Without a college experience himself, Mr. Hall felt it was important to create an environment where intelligent high school graduates could pursue the necessary college courses to position themselves for opportunities in the in-selves for opportunities in the industry.

He met with other insurance leaders who all identified with the need to recruit more Bermudians and though there was a need at the time, they had no idea how rapidly the business would grow to put Bermuda on the map as the centre for international insurance and the driving force behind the local economy.

“We had several sandwich lunches with leaders in the industry and by July 1996 in a ‘let’s get on with it’ frame of mind, five of us pledged over $2 million over five years,” he says.

“And so the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies (BFIS) was created.”

A board of trustees was quickly formed and under advisement of The College of Insurance in New York, the Bermuda College implemented a two-year insurance curriculum, thereby allowing college graduates to pursue focused insurance qualifications over the subsequent two years at an accredited college in North America.

Mr. Hall adds that within the first three months, scholarship criteria was established and students awarded the first scholarships were studying the preliminary courses in insurance at Bermuda College.

The following year scholarships were awarded to students studying at overseas universities and mentoring and internship programmes were carved out with the BFIS membership - something that expanded rapidly.

Today Mr. Hall’s role at the Foundation is as Chairman Emeritus of its Board of Trustees, while he also serves as Director of Renaissance Re Holdings Ltd.

In recognition of his contribution to Bermuda, Mr. Hall was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998.

Meanwhile on the home front, Mr. Hall and his wife Frankie have four children and eight grandchildren and these days spend most of their time between their home in Bermuda, their sailboat Forever Young, and a horse farm operated by daughter Susan in Virginia.

As Executive Director of the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies (BFIS), Catherine Lapsley is dedicated to leading bright young people into rewarding careers in insurance. She has helped match countless talented youngsters to scholarships, mentoring and internship programmes which, over time, have provided Bermuda’s insurance companies with well-educated and well-prepared Bermudian staff.

Mrs. Lapsley joined BFIS in 1997, a year after the foundation launched and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design) from Kingston-on-Thames University, UK.

“My qualification in graphic design taught me project management, which is how to manage and look at the creative side of business. It is good to be able to see things from all perspectives, and to critically think about things,” she explains.

Before joining BFIS, she was the quality service department manager at Butterfield Bank from 1992 to 1997, and prior to that a senior graphic designer in the bank’s marketing department.

As Executive Director, Mrs. Lapsley is responsible for co-ordinating all aspects of the Foundation’s activities - along with the many insurance professionals who serve on BFIS committees.

Not only does she help students who are interested in insurance careers, but she is also an information resource for the general public and interacts with everyone from CEOs and students, to corporate and individual donors and educators.

“The most rewarding aspect of my work is getting young Bermudians started on their careers in the insurance industry,” she says.

“We help match students with insurance industry mentors and also help with résumés.”

One of the highlights of her job, she says, is visiting the various schools to talk about the different careers in insurance - aided by Bermuda Insurance Institute’s Young Members.

She says getting the general public, parents and students to understand what opportunities are available in Bermuda in the insurance industry is one of the greatest challenges facing BFIS.

When asked what aspect of her work makes her the happiest, Mrs. Lapsley says: “Doing the job well and feeling that I have made a difference in someone’s life by helping him or her.”

When BFIS was formed in 1996, she adds that it was believed that the insurance companies generated about 40 new jobs a year, but since then the industry has grown beyond anyone’s expectations, and so the more Bermudians who have the education and ability to enter the industry, the better.

“All of our scholarship graduates are bright and highly motivated individuals embarking on extremely interesting careers in an industry in which Bermuda has become a, if not the, top global centre,” she elaborates.

“Opportunities are open to anyone willing to apply themselves with the hunger to create a career. In this field if you are smart, have the right attitude, and are prepared to work hard there are no limits on how far one can go.”

Mrs. Lapsley is married and lives in Smith’s and when not at work, likes to work in her garden and dabbles in painting.