Premier Alex Scott took his wish to establish an insurance fund for hurricane-prone smaller nations that can?t afford coverage to an industry audience yesterday.

Mr. Scott found a receptive ear in Julian James, director of worldwide markets for the Lloyd?s of London insurance market. The two sat down during the course of the Premier?s annual tradition of walking the exhibit hall at the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. conference, which is being held this week in Honolulu.

The Premier generally stops for a chat with Lloyd?s, and the conversation was all the more important this year with the connections between the two markets growing.

Several Lloyd?s companies now have Bermuda units, and seven percent of Lloyd?s capacity comes from the Bermuda insurance industry, which collectively contributes enough capital to be the market?s third-biggest investor.

Aside from a visit to Lloyd?s booth, Mr. Scott also stopped in with conference officials, Bermuda-based companies that have RIMS booths, and also made his traditional round of courtesy calls on the booths of rival domiciles. He also met with representatives of the St. John?s School of Risk Management, a New York-based school that specializes in insurance studies and is attended by scores of Bermudians.

The tenor of this year?s was a little more on business than courtesy with the devastation of last year?s hurricanes, and the prospect of more serious storms this year, weighing heavily.

Mr. James told Mr. Scott he thought an insurance fund could work if it was formed as a public-private partnership, and said there is enough worldwide capacity to make it a feasible idea.

Mr. Scott said he raised the idea of the fund, which countries could pay into over time, after witnessing the devastation that has happened in recent years to Caribbean nations. He cited Grenada as a prime example with Hurricane Ivan destroying 70 percent of the island?s homes, and little financial means to fix the extent of the damage.

He said the US Consul General in Bermuda, and insurers like Ace Ltd., have also weighed in on the idea. And feedback from outside parties, including the World Bank, has been that the fund would have to be global in nature to work, Mr. Scott said.

?Conceptually we were talking about a concept for the Caribbean region but are now realizing that it would have to be larger,? he said. ?Everyone thinks it is a good idea but how do you bring a fund into existence??

At home, Mr. Scott is already working to make insurance protection for all of the Island?s dwellers a reality. He and Minister Walter Lister have been working with Bermuda?s domestic insurers ahead of this year?s hurricane season to ensure everyone has property insurance, he said.