Bermudian students could be set to take their first step on the career ladder thanks to an innovative recruitment drive by insurance broker Marsh.

The programme, which is expected to be launched in earnest next year, will aim to get Bermudian students at university in Halifax working at the company during their undergraduate years before making the decision to carry on there or move back home and take up a post with in its Bermuda office.

Marsh's Halifax Technical Centre of Excellence (TCOE), which is an expansion of its captive solution business, introduced the idea to students at a careers event organised by Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Business Inc. on Friday and, if all goes according to plan, is hoping to have its first intake next spring.

Pat Ferguson, vice president of Marsh Captive Solutions, said he was very excited about the new programme and recruiting Bermudian students.

"For us, we are very excited about this Bermudian student project," he said.

"We think it is a great opportunity for Bermudians to stay on in Halifax after university to work here and then, if they so have the desire, to go back to the Bermuda office to work there.

"Our target market for now varied from students graduating from university to qualified accountants and the like who have been working in business before.

"But, we need to gauge the interest that is out there for the programme and we hope that it is there and that might dictate what the number of students we take on is."

The Halifax operation is responsible for a number of select financial, administrative and accountancy functions for new and existing captives and focused on enhancing customer service and managing rising employment costs in the industry, according to Mr. Ferguson.

"Right now we operate as a sister company to Marsh in Bermuda," he said.

"We do a lot of financial accounting and administration here to take some of the pressure off them and increased efficiency by bringing specific functions into our care now and freeing them up to add value to what they do.

"The Halifax team assumes certain financial administrative and accounting responsibilities currently carried out in a captive's domicile, such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

"We will work seamlessly with a captive's domicile managers, who will continue to manage all business relating to the captive insurance policies and endorsements, and attending client meetings.

"Both teams will contribute to the captive audit, which will be managed from the domicile, and to be honest it has worked quite well." Marsh, which is currently based downtown in Hollis Street with a 17-strong staff base, is planning to relocate nearer to the universities in 5,000 square feet offices based in Park Lane and increase its workforce to upwards of 50.

The reasons behind opening up the captive back office operation in the capital of Nova Scotia were the presence of a highly educated workforce and advanced technological infrastructures as well as a stable working environment, said Mr. Ferguson, who himself moved back from Bermuda to Canada after a stint of five years on the Island.

"We have been in operation for almost a year now," he said. "Our senior management group in Bermuda and New York were looking at it to increase efficiency and enhance client services.

"There is a large pool of talent here in Halifax, which is a big deal for us, the time zone is the same as Bermuda and the office is within North America so our clients are close by.

"For us, it was about finding the right time to set this operation up and it just coincided with all the other companies from Bermuda such as Butterfield Bank and Citco Fund Services coming."

Indeed, there are currently 90 captives serviced by the Halifax office and these clients have found that moving select services there have enabled Marsh's Captive Solutions Practice to provide a greater continuity of customer service.

It is also currently utilising a number of technologies to support the existing virtual account teams, with key systems including a proprietary account management system, a database, high-speed scanning technology, video conferencing and virtual desktop technology, including the Global Captive Management System.

In addition, this virtual nature of the Captive Solutions business supports comprehensive and robust contingency planning, with Halifax also a location removed from areas prone to natural disasters, while the TCOE provides a second layer of back-up for business continuity at its main captive operating centres..