Captive insurance expert Roger Gillett will be flying the flag for Bermuda when he goes Stateside today, writes Alex Wright.

The chairman of the Bermuda Insurance Development Council was invited to address Dallas RIMS (Risk and Insurance Management Society) delegates on captive insurance and the industry in Bermuda.

Mr. Gillett, who has already talked to similar audiences in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will be the keynote speaker at lunch to between 300 and 400 attendees.

"It is a very large chapter of RIMS, probably the third or fourth largest centre for major corporations in the US," he said.

"They asked me to specifically speak on why to form captives and why do so in Bermuda.

"I have been asked to do the keynote address which is over the lunch period, which suits me fine, because I will hopefully have everyone's attention, but it also means having to condense my usual 45-minute speech into 25 minutes, so I will have to try and focus on the main points.

"I think the word gets around that Bermuda is very open for business and for captives, in particular. They were very encouraging and seemed to be very pleased that I was prepared to do this.

"The fact that there is that level of interest in the captive market, generally and with Bermuda in particular, is good news."