An ambitious bid to boost the image of the insurance sector could increase business and attract new blood to its ranks, according to veteran industry chief Brian Duperreault.

Mr Duperreault’s Hamilton Insurance Group has teamed up other companies to create Blue Marble — a microinsurance firm aimed at the developing world.

He said: “This is a an industry effort — it can’t be the effort of a single company. And the industry isn’t enough to do this — what has been fascinating is the other industries reaching out to us saying we want to do this, how can we join?”

Mr Duperreault added that companies from technology firms and banks to non-profit organisations had all expressed an interest in the venture, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.

And he said: “We have to suppress, to some degree, our own self-interest.

“But if we create a demand out there some of that capital sitting around on the sides will have a use.”

Mr Duperreault was speaking as part of the “view from the top” panel discussion at Tuesday’s Bermuda Reinsurance Conference, which was sponsored by PwC Bermuda and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and held at the Hamilton Princess.

He said afterwards that a greater sense of social responsibility in the industry could help attract the millennial generation — people born between 1980 and 1995 — into an industry that faces a looming manpower crisis as senior executives and baby boomers head for retirement.

“There is a great interest by the entire population in the organisation, the employee base, but particularly among the millennials,” said Mr Duperreault.

“One of the aims is how we how harness this interest in a positive way.

“It started with microbanks and microfinancing, which is, in essence, delivering an essential product in the emerging world, where there is very little resources.

“A mobile phone may be the most valuable thing some people own, or one cow.

“It’s a challenge — we know they need medical coverage. You can approach it as ‘do good’ or approach it as a market development effort.”

Blue Marble Microinsurance was set up by AIG, Aspen, Guy Carpenter, Hamilton, Old Mutual, TransRe, XL Catlin and Zurich.

A statement on a partner website said: “We share a vision of collaborating to develop insurance supply to benefit underserved communities worldwide. Blue Marble will incubate the launch and operations of new solutions, including unique distribution methods, local partnerships and product development.”

Mr Duperreault said: “We have a digital world out there. We have a phone. Most of the emerging world has a phone — how do we effectively use this technology which is in their hands?

“We need to be joining with others outside our industry who have capabilities and technologies to solve the problem.”

And he added: “Particularly with technology, you bring in expertise and do it as a larger group — create an ecosystem.”