St. John's University's School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science sponsored four Bermudian students to attend the fortieth Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) annual conference in New Orleans last month.

Dion Fox, Fretina Robinson, Lisa Trott and Yannis Williams were among the recipients of the Tom N. Kellogg/General Cologne Re Scholarship awarded through the School to risk management, insurance or actuarial majors.

The students first attended the national meeting of Gamma Iota Sigma, a national insurance fraternity, and then participated in seminars and company sponsored events at RIMS throughout the week. All expenses were covered by the fund.

Ms Robinson said one of the benefits to the students was: "I collected so many business cards from executives who want to meet with me when I graduate."

The four attended seminars in "Creating a Loss Prevention Culture," "Broker with a Capital B," "Using Insurance to Manage Financial Risks" and "Principles of Reinsurance."

Marketing manager of industrial and alumni relations Bill Keating said: "We want to see more Bermudians working in the insurance industry and participation in this conference sets our students apart."