Bermuda looks to be getting the lion's share of new insurance capital, with more than half of the funding for writing new insurance business following the US terror attacks coming to the Island.

ACE chief executive officer Brian Duperreault said some $15 billion in new capital will be pumped in to the insurance industry globally as investors and established insurers respond to the needs of the new marketplace.

Mr. Duperreault, speaking at the Bermuda Employer Council's annual general meeting last week, said he had recently attended a conference of property and casualty insurers in New York and $15 billion was estimated as the amount of new capital following the September 11 tragedy.

Of that $15 billion, Bermuda looks to be holding - with estimates of $9.9 billion in additional capital - more than half of the total pot.

Seven new reinsurers have set up shop on the Island with $6.9 billion in new capital.

Add to that additional capital raised by Bermuda's already established insurers including ACE, XL, Partner Re, Ren Re and IPC Re at close to $3 billion, and it becomes clear that the local market has a significant corner on the capital earmarked for increased capacity since the US terror attacks.

Mr. Duperreault said ACE itself has raised $1.15 billion of capital as a result of a share offering last month.

Speaking of Bermuda as an insurance hub, Mr. Duperreault said: “Because Bermuda is the dominant locale for reinsurance and because of its pre-eminent reputation as an international business centre, the Island's critical role in providing capacity is taken as a given.”