Equator Re, QBE Insurance Group Ltd’s captive reinsurer, hosted 25 reinsurance interns at the Blu Bar and Grill in Warwick.

This summer networking event was for interns to discuss careers in reinsurance and what to expect for the future.

Equator Re, which was established in 1983, views the recruitment and development of young talent, and specifically of local Bermudian talent, as essential to sustaining the reinsurance ecosystem, to Bermuda’s growth and to the company’s future success.

The event provided an opportunity for Bermudian interns in reinsurance to meet each other, as well as senior executives from their employing companies to discuss their experiences.

Quintonio Lema, was a key speaker at the event. He is a previous local intern at Validus Re, now employed by Everest Re. He discussed valuable internship lessons and provided a career trajectory perspective for the interns.

“I just made the transition from intern to a full-time employee and I must say it was a little bit of hard work and luck. Timing is everything. You could be the most qualified, but if there’s no space for you there’s just no space, but, networking within Validus helped get me in the door.” he said

Another intern at Everest Re, Zoe Wright, said: “It has been a really good experience and to see what I want to do when it comes to my future. It is also interesting to see how my school work and things I learnt are relating back to my career. Once I complete my degree I want to continue my actuary exams and come back and work within the industry.”

Ms Wright is planning to complete her exams while still coming Bermuda to do internships during summer breaks.

Tyler Mallory, an intern at MS Amlin, said: “For me this is about experience and figuring out what I really want to do. I just graduated in May and I will be at Amlin until December. I am still trying to figure out what’s next for me, whether getting my Master’s or continuing to work.”

Jim Fiore, president of Equator Re, said: “This year we had our first intern, we have been talking about doing it for a few years, and this year we interviewed a few people and got someone on board.”

He added: “I was reading in the newspaper about Hamilton Re having a couple of interns and I started thinking well, this is the reinsurance market of the future. It will be good to get everybody together and network — which is great because our business is really based on building relationships.

“I think this is a great event and I am going to try and keep doing this every year.”