Record-breaking attendance is expected for the Bermuda Captive Conference next week.More than 550 people are expected to attend the conference, now in its eighth year, organised by Bermuda Insurance Management Association (BIMA), starting on Monday at the Fairmont Southampton hotel.With 28 scheduled sessions over three days, the conference will bring together the major players in the captive industry with the aim of reaffirming Bermuda’s predominance in the area as well as providing new industry insight along with networking opportunities.Attendees include current and prospective captive owners, industry experts as well as producers — the people who can advise companies to set up a captive — such as brokers, lawyers and bankers, among many others.“We have more attendees, more sponsorship and more exhibitors than ever before,” said Peter Willitts, chairman of the conference. “It is so popular this year we had to book additional exhibit space.”The conference organisers, said Mr Willitts, who took over for Jill Husbands, who ran the conference for the last seven years, have been working all year to make the event a success.“We worked hard this year; we started early, beat the trees and put boots on the ground,” he said referring to a recent captive industry roadshow stopping in cities in the US and Canada, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, meeting with prospective captive clients.“Having people here on the Island makes the chances of converting people higher,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to get to know, love and trust Bermuda. We want to re-affirm our status as the number one captive domicile.”Thirteen conference sessions are certified for Continuing Professional Education credits.“That says a lot about the standard of the presentations and the seriousness with which we are taking what are doing,” said Mr Willitts, who is also the president of Liberty Mutual Management (Bermuda) Ltd.The Island’s captive industry continues to grow and the conference is yet another “breadcrumb” for potential new clients to follow towards setting up shop here.According to Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), Bermuda saw a total of 862 captives registered here at the end of 2011, up from 845 in 2010.Bermuda’s captives wrote a total of $21.4 billion in gross premiums in 2011, compared to $32.7 billion the previous year.Harley-Davidson brand and communications strategist, Ken Schmidt, will be the conference’s keynote speaker, giving a talk on his role in one of the “most celebrated turnarounds in corporate history — and got paid to ride motorcycles”.Jeremy Cox, CEO of the BMA and Minister of Business Development & Tourism Wayne Furbert will also be on hand to participate in a round-table discussion on Monday.Don Kramer, a founder of three international reinsurers is speaking on his new company, ILS Capital Management, and its role in bringing much-needed new capital to the catastrophe reinsurance markets.William Montanez, president of the Bermuda Captive Owners Association (BCOA), will also lead a panel of industry experts to review how a mature captive can successfully expand operations.The Royal Gazette will be reporting from the conference next week.For more information on the conference, visit www.bermudacaptive.bm.