Work permits and delays can be a frustrating part of life for international business in Bermuda, but they are outweighted by other factors that continue to secure a queue of those wishing to be on the Island each time there is a wave of new start-ups.

So says Ed Noonan, the man at the head of one of the biggest of the most recent wave of start-ups Validus Re.

The billion-dollar firm, which resides in Par-La-Ville Road, has come a long way since it started less than two years ago in the aftermath of 2005's devastating hurricane season.

Earlier this year it doubled its size with the successful acquisition of Lloyd's of London syndicate Talbot Underwriting.

Ironically, pausing to buy Talbot delayed its initial public offering which eventually went ahead in late July just as the subprime-induced credit crunch was hitting Wall Street. As a result the initial Validus share price was lower than expected.

However, Brooklyn-born Validus CEO Mr. Noonan remains upbeat.

He was also one of those who attended the Rendez Vous reinsurance gathering in Monte Carlo last month and heard mutterings of disquiet amongst some of those engaged in the business on the Island, reported extensively in The Royal Gazette last week.

According to reports in UK trade press and backed up by attendees at the event, leaders within Bermuda's $64 billion reinsurance business have expressed frustration and unhappiness at current policies and politics on the the Island, to the extent that some are talking - albeit off the record - about outsourcing staff to other countries and reviewing their departure plans from Bermuda should matters get worse.

Asked The Royal Gazette's "$64bn Monte Carlo question" Mr. Noonan was reluctant to comment, but did wonder how much of what was said in Monaco was simply bar-talk.

Overall, he remains a fan of Bermuda and said that for all the frustrations with work permits and delays, the Island remains a good place to be located in the reinsurance market.

"Our experience in Bermuda has been quite good. There is nowhere in the world where you can start up as quickly as here. The regulatory environment is rigorous but at the same time enabling."

He said Bermuda's polite society and high literacy rate of employees add to its attractiveness.

"From a business perspective it is a global finance centre with a lot of sound people. Bermuda is an intellectual centre for the business we do."

He added: "When the waves of start-ups come there is always a queue for Bermuda." Validus was one of those in the most recent waves of start-ups which hit the Island in the final months of 2005.

In the wake of the devastating hurricanes that battered the southern US Gulf states that year - Katrina, Rita and Wilma - the insurance and reinsurance market was knocked sideways with many companies pulling back on their level of risk and exposure as they came to terms with the huge losses incurred by the storms.

At the same time it was one of those opportune moments when those who had been sitting on the sidelines biding their time, could make a move and enter the sector to take advantage of a gap in the market that had been created by the pullback, and in some cases the failure, of (re)insurers who had been overwhelmed by the KRW events.

Validus Holdings formed at the end of 2005 with investment capital of $1 billion.

Today the company occupies a plush office space in the newest office block in Par-La-Ville Road.

Mr. Noonan shares his time between a home in Bermuda and another in Pennsylvania. He was formerly with American Re, a unit of Munich Re, until the events of 2005 presented an opening for new players to join the market.

With the turmoil that had hit the established insurers and reinsurers at that time, Mr. Noonan said he and his colleagues recognised there was a fantastic opportunity.

"We came in at the right time. Many of the existing companies were counting their losses from KRW. A lot were pulling back from the market and taking on less risk at the same time everyone wanted to buy catastrophe cover. So that made for a great opportunity," said Mr. Noonan.

Validus has accomplished a remarkably fast rise in status, helped largely to its early acquisition of Lloyd's Talbot Underwriting, at a cost of $400m.

Expanding in this way has helped to reduce the volatility of the firm's business, something that is beneficial when the rating agencies run the rule over it.

It was about this time a year ago that Validus cast its corporate eyes over the wider market place to see what might be affordable.

"We were looking at ways of reducing the volatility of our business. We looked at the US and at Lloyd's (of London)," said Mr. Noonan.

Lloyd's was identified as the preferred option and the company initially identified four syndicates that met its criteria for acquisition.

"Talbot was top of our list. We did not have the highest bid, and there was another Bermuda company bidding. But we found the management of Talbot was compatible with ourselves and we had worked with then over a number of years and trusted them."

What Validus liked about Talbot was its short-term business with very little liability, most of it insurance. More than three-quarters of Talbot's business was outside the US.

The acquisition immediately doubled the size of Validus as a company. The extra clout of having a Lloyd's syndicate has raised Validus' standing amongst the Class of 2005 start-ups, something that would normally have been "a banker" when it came to ensuring a high value initial public offering (IPO).

That appeared to be the case as the firm prepared to go public earlier in the summer. But the market credit crunch brought on by the subprime mortgage crisis hit and caused the IPO on July 24 to attract less investment that had been hoped.

Ironically, it was the acquisition of Talbot caused a delay in Validus making its IPO. However, despite the resulting share price being lower than hoped, the company is pleased with its current situation.

"We had filed the IPO and then the opportunity to acquire Talbot came up so we put the IPO on hold. And then we were in to the wind season. Right as we got to launch the IPO the global credit crunch started to hit Wall Street.

"It was a bit disappointing at the time, but it was a moment in time." Validus focuses on short-tail business, with about 47 percent catastrophe worldwide, and notable coverage in marine, energy and speciality (such as terrorism attack and aviation cover).

Looking at this year's market, Mr. Noonan recognises the downward pressure on premium rates, an inevitable consequence of 2006's benign windstorm year and the relatively low losses of 2007 to date.

However, he rightly points out that the first two Atlantic hurricanes of this year were maximum intensity Category 5s that fortunately scudded across the lower Caribbean area because of the more southerly position of the 'Bermuda High' this year.

"There is downward pressure (on rates) but you can't under-price risk. Bermuda is in many ways the most important catastrophe risk market in the world and I do not see reckless competitors on the Island," he said.

He notes that, rather than gamble with lowering premium rates, many companies are deploying their excess capital with share buybacks to maintain shareholder value.