As the Island's insurance industry continues to burgeon, the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) will also move forward with its training and education mandate, said it newest president.

Education remains a major aim of the institute, successor of the Bermuda Insurance Diploma Association which was established 25 years ago, said Ms Sheila Nicoll, the BII's first woman president.

The newest BII course is an MBA graduate study programme in risk management.

Courses, offered in conjunction with College of Insurance, New York, started two weeks ago.

The MBA is delivered in an executive format of four to five day blocks of study over a four year period. It covers a wide range of topics from marketing to economics, not just insurance, she said.

But the number of people enrolled in the MBA course is lower than originally hoped for, currently there are eight people taking part.

Organisers had hoped for 12-15 participants but the programme is new and it is a big commitment, she added.

"We are hoping it will appeal to people in Bermuda's insurance industry or its related firms,'' she said.

The next step on the BII educational front could be an insurance programme offered in connection with the Bermuda College, she said.

Ms Nicoll, 40, has been involved with the BII for 13 years, first as a member of the organisation's education committee, a committee she has chaired, as a council member and as vice president.

She served as the institute's vice president for two years under BII immediate past president Mr. Glen Gibbons who last month stepped down.

"As a Bermudian it has been great to see the insurance industry grow over the past 13 years and it has been great to see that the BII has been a part of it,'' said Ms Nicoll.

"As Bermuda has become much more aware of the need to promote itself as an offshore location, the fact that we have an insurance institute has added credibility, it says we have a pool of trained people,'' she said.

"The BII have taken on a much higher profile and assumed a larger role in helping educate people about insurance as a career,'' she said.

"The addition of education director Mr. Roger Scotton 18 months ago has given an additional dimension to the BII, he is an impartial source of information for inquiries made from around the world. He also writes the BII's newsletter,'' she said.

The BII, incorporated by the Bermuda Insurance Institute Act 1984, as well as the MBA, offers six other professional designations including; Bermuda Insurance Diploma (BID), Certified Member of the Bermuda Insurance Institute (CBII), as well as UK Associate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII).

US designations which can be obtained through the institute include; Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe).

Another part of the BII's education focus is their management of two scholarships, the Shelton Burgess and Highland Fidelity scholarships, which are open to Bermudians who have completed the BID and are interested in pursuing a career in insurance.

The BII also awards three examination prizes for students in their BID programme.

The committees and educational programmes are largely due to the efforts of volunteers from the industry, she said.

Last summer, the BII moved from its Clarendon House offices to a new, larger location on Cedar Avenue, a move which has given the institute more flexibility in offering its courses, she said.

Though there are only three full-time employees, the BII has about 140 members and an impressive list of volunteers serving on its council as well as on education and young members committees.

"We have been lucky. Whenever their has been a need there have been people in the industry ready to step forward to help, either with time or financial commitment, sponsoring the seminar rooms at the Cedarpark location is just one example,'' she said.

"Member companies have also supported their staff when they are giving time to the BII, either to speak at one of our luncheons or serve on a committee,'' she said.

As well as the monthly luncheon speakers and an annual dinner and, the BII, with the New York chapter of the CPCU, co-sponsored last year's Bermuda market briefing.

Ms Nicoll, an Oxford University graduate, is vice president and manager of the reinsurance unit of Johnson & Higgins Intermediaries, Bermuda and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Insurance (FCII) since 1981.

Here professional career also includes four years as an underwriter at Lloyd's of London.

She handles all the financial reinsurance transactions for the J&H system into the Bermuda market and the negotiation and placement of executive compensation indemnity insurance with ACE Ltd.

The unit also handles all placements into the Bermuda catastrophe reinsurance market, excess marine liability placements and the direct property business underwritten by XL Insurance Company Ltd.

Ms Sheila Nicoll