The Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) has appointed Ariel Re chief underwriter of property insurance Chris Fisher as the group’s new president. Mr Fisher is replacing BFM CEO John Wight.Appointed at the BII’s recent annual general meeting, Mr Fisher is a Bermudian who joined Ariel Re in 2006. Before joining Ariel Re, Mr Fisher was president of Ace USA’s Energy division based in New York. He began his insurance career in 1990 with BF&M and is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Chartered Insurer.Other officers appointed to the BII Council were Andrew Soares of Platinum Re as BII vice-president and chairman of the Education Committee, Wanda Mello of Ernst & Young as honorary treasurer, Carol Parker Trott of XL Group as honorary secretary and John Wight of BF&M as immediate past president. Elected members are Laurie Orchard of XL Group, Roger Gillett of the Bermuda Insurance Development Council (IDC), Sandra DeSilva of Nova Ltd, Shannon Totten of Endurance and Patrick Neal of BF&M.Commenting on his appointment and the changes to the Council, Mr Fisher said: “It is an honour to lead and serve the BII with which I have had a long association since taking my first insurance courses in 1990.“I look forward to working closely with my fellow Council members as we strategically focus on strengthening the organisation and ensuring that it continues to meet the dynamic needs of member companies and the Bermuda market in general.“I would also like to thank John Wight for his valuable insight while leading the Council during the past two years and former Honorary Secretary Robert Stubbs for his dedication and contributions to the BII during the past decade.”The BII also announced that for 2011 it incurred a loss of $26,890. The net assets of the organisation at December 31, 2011 were $652,967.Despite the loss, the BII noted that this was an improvement over 2010 when the organisation recorded $111,414 loss, and it saw improvements in its financial performance in 2011 in areas of tuition and other income which increased by approximately $110,000 year on year and seminar income which increased by approximately $25,000.