David Ezekiel was sceptical ? and suspected it was a ruse ? when he first heard he had been named market leader of year by the Bermuda Insurance Institute.

"When I got the call, it was a total shock. I was convinced it was simply a ruse to get me to pay my dues," he joked, in addressing the who's who of Bermuda's re/insurance sector, gathered Saturday night at XL House for the sixth annual Bermuda Insurance Institute awards dinner.

Although CEO and chairman of IAS, and president and managing director of International Advisory Services Ltd., Mr. Ezekiel may be best known for speaking out as chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC).

In handing Mr. Ezekiel the award, Ms Brewin said the industry owed him gratitude for his willingness to be a tireless advocate for the industry in Bermuda.

Mr. Ezekiel, in accepting the award, said: "There are not many things that have left me speechless, but this comes close." He praised his ABIC and IAS colleagues, saying that he was only one of a team and that he never would have accomplished what he has without their support.

Before setting up captive management firm IAS in 1981, Mr. Ezekiel was a partner in leading accounting firm Moore, Stephens and Butterfield now KPMG Bermuda. While there, Mr. Ezekiel and another partner, were responsible for the firm's rapidly expanding insurance auditing department as well as extensive staff training.

Initially Mr. Ezekiel said he intended to come to the Island for two years only.

"I came out to get enough money together to play bridge for the rest of my life. But KPMG did something underhand, they promoted me to partner," he said.

Mr. Ezekiel ? an avid bridge player (he has written the Mid-Ocean New's bridge column for two decades now) and golfer ? said his initial plans may not have panned out exactly as he first hoped. But modestly he said his success had really been a case of just doing his job. Mr. Ezekiel said: "My career has been nothing much more than turning up for work everyday. I have often been pushed up in front," he said, but said it had always been with good people behind him. Borrowing the "behind every successful man is a very surprised woman" phrase, Mr. Ezekiel said he had been lucky enough to have some very surprised women behind him. He pointed out that both his present assistant Diana Fearis was at the dinner as well as former assistant, from both his KPMG days and at IAS, Sue Power.

He added that he was "so glad to be sharing (Saturday) evening with a true giant of the industry, Kathryn McIntyre". Mr. Ezekiel was educated at Sherwood College, Naintal, India and undertook his articles of clerkship in London.

He became a member of the Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1971 and was admitted to Fellowship in 1978. In the early 1970s he pursued and received his Masters of Science degree in Business Administration majoring in investment analysis, from the Graduate Business Centre of the City University, London.

In recent years, much of Mr. Ezekiel's time has been taken up with the restructuring of the Mutual Risk Management Group, a company to whom IAS was sold in 1998.

The resturcturing followed heavy financial woes at MRM culminating in 2002 with the company's delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, legal action and the company effectively being "put in a box".

The restructuring has involved separating MRM's successful service companies, including IAS, from the troubled insurance units.

The restructuring, which saw MRM's senior debt holders effectively become the owners of the service units, was completed last year. During this time Mr. Ezekiel also assumed leadership of MRM in order to "assist the creditor group of MRM to maximise the remaining assets".

In thanking his peers and the Bermuda Insurance Institute for the award, Mr. Ezekiel said he was following his mother's advice. Saying that he spoke with his parents nearly every evening, he had informed them that night that he was on his way receive the market leader award.

"Like a good Jewish mother, she (my mother) said remember to thank the people who asked you there," he said.