Bermuda's future as an insurance market is secure despite a number of high-profile corporate departures to Europe.

That is according to Ed Noonan, chairman and CEO of Validus Reinsurance Ltd., who was talking on a panel at the Reinsurance Association of America's Re Underwriting forum held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel yesterday.

Mr. Noonan told delegates that despite several companies moving their base from Bermuda to the likes of Dublin and Switzerland, they would continue to operate as normal on the Island.

Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. announced plans earlier this week to move its holding company from Bermuda to Luxembourg in a bid to "establish its identity as a European company".

This follows Ace redomesticating its holding company from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland in July 2008, shareholders of broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. approving to move the company's domicile from Bermuda to Ireland in December 2009 and XL Capital signalling its intention to move its holding company from the Cayman Islands to Ireland in January this year.

But Mr. Noonan pointed out that the majority of the companies were not headquartered in Bermuda prior to their move, however those that were chose to relocate due to regulatory issues, access to the European Union market or to have all their capital deployed in one place.

And he dismissed the idea that they were leaving because of the threat of a change to US tax policy which could impact many of the Island's insurers.

"Bermuda's future as an insurance market is secure," he said. "Companies may choose to redomicile, but their operations will continue here."

Also on the panel were John Berger, president and CEO of Harbor Point Ltd., Jerome Faure, chief underwriting officer of Tokio Millennium Re Ltd. and James Few, president of Aspen Reinsurance.

Turning specifically to the issue of the US tax threat, Mr. Berger said he thought any legislation passed would not single out Bermuda and while it would not be good news for companies based here, rates here would still compare well to those paid by a UK or US-based company.

Mr. Few said he was not unduly concerned about what was proposed in President Obama's budget proposal, but was more worried about the involvement of governments in the insurance market.

The debate kicked-off with a discussion on the economy and its effect on business, with Mr. Berger admitting his fears about the downturn's impact on insurance companies' overall pricing.

Mr. Faure said it was important is underwriters to ensure the best assumptions possible were made about the rate of inflation in the future for long tail lines of business.

"We are an industry that does not have a good track record in looking to the future," he said. "We need underwriters who are very good at putting the brakes on when they need to be put on and adapting the pricing when it needs to be done."