A reception to honour one of Bermuda’s captive industry stalwarts is being held on Friday.

Michael Frederick Bott, who died last year, came to Bermuda in 1968 and had a long career in the captive and risk management sector.

Born in the English Midlands in December 1944, he earned a degree in business studies at Derby College, the forerunner of the University of Derby, and qualified as a corporate secretary. He also studied voice for three years with Lawrence Lee and Joseph Hislop, the celebrated Scottish tenor, and had intended to pursue further voice studies at the Zurich Opera Centre, but then decided to relocate to Bermuda.

He joined International Risk Management Ltd as a corporate secretary. IRM was Bermuda’s first captive insurance management company, established by captive insurance pioneer, the late Fred Reiss.

He joined law firm Appleby in 1969 and was subsequently the manager of A.M. Management Ltd. In 1973, he became the president of Risk Treatment Services (Bermuda) Ltd, the management and brokerage arm of The Sperry and Hutchinson Co.

In June 1979, he founded Bott & Associates Ltd, an independent manager and broker. The firm became a leading manager of captive insurance companies and subsidiaries of US corporations and industry groups.

Mr Bott addressed many industry groups and was a member of the Bermuda Insurance Managers Association. He contributed articles on captive insurance and co-authored How to Form and Operate an Association Captive Insurance Company, which was published by The American Society of Insurance Executives.

Mr Bott was an enthusiastic collector of classical opera recordings and built a notable collection of vintage “78rpm” opera albums. He was a regular contributor of opera articles to such journals as The Record Collector, Opera (London) and Recorded Sound.

Mr Bott died on August 14, he was 72. He is survived by his wife Freda and son, Adam.

• Friends and associates are invited to a reception in Mr Bott’s honour to be held at Bott & Associates and the AmTrust Group offices, at Washington Mall, fourth floor, 7 Reid Street, Suite 400, starting at 5.30pm on Friday