One of London’s leading insurance and reinsurance programme designers and market operators is heading to Bermuda in a move that underlines the Island’s global importance as reputation as “the place” for such businesses to be headquartered.

Dennis Mahoney is no stranger to Bermuda and is looking forward to his relocation, which is expected to take place at the end of February.

Aon, the world’s number two broker, has decided to centralise a number of its global business units under one umbrella — to be known as Aon Global. And the chairman is to be Mr. Mahoney, who will relinquish his current position as head of the Aon’s UK operations to come to Bermuda where, as he says himself, he will be at the very heart of the action.

The company currently employs around 150 staff at various offices around Hamilton. Mr. Mahoney’s arrival will bring him into face-to-face contact with leading players in the market, many of whom he already knows from long-standing professional association.

Apart from the personal contact and the ability to meet many insurance and reinsurance operators now located in Bermuda, the move also affords him a geographically useful position to travel at short notice to the US, Europe or elsewhere as needed.

His strength is in designing insurance and re-insurance programmes and placing them into the market place. That is the “hands-on” approach he will be taking once he arrives in Bermuda as Aon Global chairman. The day-to-day running of the Aon Global will be the responsibility of Steve McGill, who is based in the company’s Chicago offices and has been appointed CEO of the new branch of the business.

“Steve McGill will be CEO, he’s an old friend. His job will be to run the business. I shall spent more time with the clients and the markets — back to being a practitioner, which is what I love,” he said.

Explaining what he will be doing when he arrives in Bermuda, Mr. Mahoney started by outlining what he will not be doing: “I’m not coming to manage people on the Island. There are already fabulous people in Paul Markey and Joe Rego doing that.

“What we have done is chosen Bermuda as my base to handle global business, recognising that Bermuda has absolutely exploded in importance in the global insurance and re-insurance world and with the location of not only so much financial capital but the huge amount of intellectual capital as well and so many of the top operators in the world; people I have traded with over the years like John Charman, Michael Butt, Tony Taylor and Bob Charles.

“We felt that it was absolutely appropriate that we started to think about Bermuda as a global centre for our businesses.”

Aon Global will consist of the company’s former Global Large Companies business unit, Captives Services Group, International Risk Management Group, Risk Consulting and Risk Engineering business units amongst others.

Mr. Mahoney said: “My career has been very much as a practitioner, designing insurance and re-insurance programmes and then placing them into the global market.

“Historically of course Lloyds and the London market has been ‘the market’ for the more complex and sophisticated risks, that is now changing and Bermuda is a wonderful example of how markets can develop in a well regulated and managed, efficient way for buyers and sellers.

“My transition to Bermuda is a recognition of that. Although I will be travelling a lot around the world because our clients are global we felt the right location to drive this global approach was for me to be in Bermuda.”

Mr. Mahoney is looking forward to coming to Bermuda, a place he has been to many times before and one he describes as “beautiful”. He also points out that any traffic jams in Hamilton will pale to the commuting misery of London.

As for his love of the business he is in, he says he would even do it if he was not paid to. He is, of course, well paid. In 2005 his salary and related bonuses totted up to $8.7 million, according to a Forbes listing.

Being in close proximity to many of the industry’s leading companies and figures, as he will be when he is based in Bermuda, will be a good thing, he feels.

“People often talk about the proximity issue, and if you look at London you have all the insurance companies, law firms and Lloyds all in relatively the same area and we have seen exactly the same thing develop in Bermuda,” he said.

“Although I’m a huge fan of technology and deal-cutting electronically, I still believe that face-to-face and people business is very critical. So clearly, being just down the road from everybody is very convenient, but I must stress we expect to do far more business in Bermuda going forward.”

Asked if his move, something that is being broadcast across news wires around the world, might cause other big players to follow suit, he said: “We have seen some very senior underwriters move to the island; Michael Butt, Bob Charles, Tony Taylor, John Charman and others. But — and I’m not taking anything away from the people who are already there — we have not thought before about whether some of the higher calibre (brokers) might locate there.”

The more Aon thought about such a move the more it made sense, said Londoner Mr. Mahoney.

If all goes to plan he expects to be in Bermuda by the end of February and hopes to be allowed to eventually buy a home on the Island. His Aon Global contract is for eight years.