The Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies (BFIS) hosted a gala dinner at the Bermuda Aquarium last Wednesday night. In attendance were many of the Island's insurance leaders and the first four graduates of the BFIS programme.

The evening was opened by BFIS president Preston Hutchings from deep inside the shark tank in the North Rock exhibit. Mr. Hutchings was wearing a wet suit and was wired for sound. He explained his fishy behaviour by telling the story of how Michael Butt of Mid-Ocean Re (now part of XL), had attended an earlier dinner at the Aquarium.

At that earlier dinner, Mr. Hutchings had wondered aloud, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, how much it would take to persuade Mr. Butt to jump into the shark tank. "A thousand dollars,'' Mr. Butt had replied.

Mr. Hutchings promptly raised the money, to be donated to the BFIS, by subscription from his fellow diners. Mr. Butt's Mid-Ocean colleague, Henry Keeling, offered to match with his own contribution whatever amount was raised.

Mr. Butt hesitated only to ask a fellow he took to be a representative of the Aquarium if such behaviour would be acceptable to the organisation. The man gave Mr. Butt the nod, although it turned out that he was a waiter from the company who had catered the affair.

Mr. Butt then peeled down to a pair of pink boxer shorts and dived into the tank. "Within three days, everyone who had promised a contribution had paid up,'' recalled Mr. Hutchings. "The end result was a solid contribution to the work of the BFIS in furthering the interest of Bermudian insurance students.'' Mr. Butt's underwater activity entered into the annals of Bermuda insurance folklore.

From within the same tank last Wednesday, Mr. Hutchings then announced that the winner of this year's "Pink Boxer Shorts Award'', named in memory of Mr.

Butt's sartorial elegance, was Mr. Brian O'Hara, for his efforts on behalf of the Bermuda insurance industry.

Inevitably, over dinner, the idea of Mr. O'Hara going into the tank was raised. Mr. Hutchings was able, without dissent, to levy a $100 per head contribution from the evening's guests, and without much resistance, Mr.

O'Hara left the room to prepare for his dive.

Wearing only a pair of Bermuda shorts he had borrowed from Mr. Hutchings, Mr.

O'Hara, like the company he manages, proved buoyant. As if floating a loan, he floated alone. But by expelling the air from his lungs, he was able to establish his purpose, the achievement of a sinking fund, and made his way to the bottom of the tank in full view of the evening's guests.

The insurance industry leader took to his unusual surroundings like a duck to water.

First, he made the international signal for money by rubbing his thumbs and first fingers together. He then turned and headed back to the top, his natural habitat, almost losing in the process the shorts he had borrowed from Mr.

Hutchings.

Mr. Hutchings said on Friday that both Brian Hall, a co-founder of the BFIS, and Mr. O'Hara himself had agreed to match whatever was raised by public subscription, meaning that Mr. O'Hara's spontaneous demonstration of goodwill and commitment to the BFIS would have raised more than $10,000 for the BFIS, which is currently in the middle of a fund-raising drive.

"I was impressed at how good Brian O'Hara looked in a tank top,'' said one guest at the dinner. Another guest, pointing out that the water in the tank is maintained at a comfortably warm temperature, concluded: "I guess this shows that Brian O'Hara is not a cold fish.'' Brian O'Hara BUSINESS BUC