Bermudian Gino Smith earned a standing ovation from some 350 insurance industry peers on Saturday evening after a speech outlining his meteoric rise from a pack-racing youth to an assistant vice-president at XL Re.

Accepting his award as Young (Re)insurance Person of the Year at the Bermuda Insurance Institute awards at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, Mr. Smith drew parallels between his personal development and that of the Island's insurance industry.

Other award winners were Don Kramer, chairman and chief executive officer of Ariel Reinsurance Ltd., who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Axis CEO John Charman, who won the (Re)insurance Person of the Year. Mr. Charman was absent from the dinner, because he was attending the 21st birthday of his son.

Mr. Smith, a graduate of Berkeley Institute, Bermuda College, Don Quijote Instituto de Idiomas in Spain, and the College of Insurance in New York, told diners: "In 1993 I used to go pack racing and I gave chase to the police. I personally witnessed two road deaths."

The following year he graduated from Berkeley Institute and went on to Bermuda College where he was the first graduate to be named the Most Outstanding Insurance Student. At the College of Insurance, he graduated first in his class and was the Class of 2000 Valedictorian.

Mr. Smith earned scholarships from XL Capital Ltd., the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies (BFIS) and the Risk and Management Society. In his role at XL Re, he is primarily responsible for underwriting property catastrophe reinsurance treaties.

He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, having been posted in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia for three years, when he worked for XL Re Latin America Ltd. Mr. Smith has also served as an officer of the Bermuda Regiment and as chairman of the BFIS Mentoring Committee.

"The idea of Bermudians taking leadership roles in the insurance industry is not happening by luck, it's by design," Mr. Smith said. "And it's the interest of people like Brian Hall which has paved the way for people like me."

Mr. Smith said his upbringing had been that of an average Bermudian and that he had been raised by a strong woman who had instilled in him some basic principles. "I was taught that life is unfair and that failure is a part of life and that I had better get used to it. I didn't grow up with a sense of entitlement."

He paid particular tribute to Mr. Hall, one of the pioneers of the Bermuda insurance industry, as well as his boss at XL Re, Paul Simons, and XL Capital chairman Brian O'Hara, who stepped down as the company's CEO on May 1 this year. "Brian O'Hara has not only been a great CEO, but he is also a great man," Mr. Smith said, thanking him for "taking a chance on me".

Mr. Charman's award was accepted on his behalf by Axis Insurance chairman Jack Gressier. Mr. Charman, a Briton who enjoyed a stellar career at Lloyd's of London, moved to Bermuda in 1998 to work for Ace. He set up Axis Capital in 2001 and in just its sixth year of operation last year, it made a profit of more than $1 billion. By the end of last year, shareholders' equity in the company stood at $5.2 billion.

Mr. Gressier delivered a speech written by Mr. Charman, in which he paid particular tribute to three people.

First, Chee Hwa Tung, who headed a Chinese shipping family, and for whom Mr. Charman worked for five years. The knowledge of the world gleaned during that period meant Mr. Charman "returned to Lloyd's as a different character".

The he thanked Bob Newhouse, whom he described as "a Titan of the insurance industry", and Michael Butt, his chairman at Axis, whom he has nicknamed "The Admiral". He said Mr. Butt was "the close friend he had waited 50 years to find".

Mr. Butt then introduced American Mr. Kramer, who went up to receive his award.

Mr. Kramer amused the audience by describing himself as a "failed retiree" and explaining that Ariel Re was the fifth insurance start-up he had been responsible for. "That means that either I'm a serial entrepreneur, or that no one in their right mind would hire me," Mr. Kramer quipped.

Mr. Kramer served as chairman and CEO of Tempest Re., a company which he founded and that later became Ace Tempest Re, from 1993 to 1999. He also served as president of his own firm, Kramer Capital Capital Corporation, chairman of Assured Guaranty and chairman and founder of NAC Re Corporation, a company he developed from an inactive shell.

The 70-year-old is also chairman of the board of the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda.

Mr. Kramer said he, as a product of the New York public school system, was passionate about public education.

"I'm particularly honoured to be sharing the spotlight with Gino Smith, a graduate of Berkeley Institute," Mr. Kramer said. "I hope that in 25 or 30 years, you will be standing here where I am now. You will be a role model for another generation of Bermuda's youth. You are the future of this industry."