Veteran insurance executive Kathleen Faries has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Women in Reinsurance, the professional organisation for women working in Bermuda’s reinsurance sector.

Ms Faries, the CEO of Artex Capital Solutions, was presented with the award at WiRe’s Women’s Day Gala and Lifetime Achievement Award event on Friday at the Hamilton Princess.

About 200 industry representatives attended the sold-out event, including 17 corporate groups.

The gala was developed to mark WiRe’s 15th anniversary and highlight the significant contributions of women in Bermuda’s reinsurance industry.

WiRe said Ms Faries’s career spans more than 35 years.

In a statement, the organisation said: “Her contributions include early career experience in captive development at Marsh Management and business development for the start-up brokerage Crump International.

“At Tokyo Marine Millenium Re AG, she drove growth through product innovation and third-party capital solutions, eventually becoming the CEO of Tokyo Marine Solutions and later head of Bermuda branch at Tokyo Millenium Re AG.

“(Ms) Faries has served as adviser to several start-up organisations and won multiple industry awards.

“(Ms) Faries has contributed extensively to organisations that support the industry and the careers of women professionals.

“She was a founding member and chairperson of ILS Bermuda, host of the ILS conference Convergence. She served on the board of WiRe from 2011 to 2017 and, in 2018, (Ms) Faries cofounded WeSpeak Bermuda, an organisation that trains women to enhance leadership abilities through public speaking of all forms.

“She is also known to personally support and mentor professionals on their career journey.

“WiRe congratulates Kathleen Faries and thanks her for her dedication to promoting the success of women in the Bermuda reinsurance industry.”

The event featured a keynote by the Bermudian author of Begin Boldly, Christie Hunter Arscott, as well as performances by local artists Olivia Hamilton, Tino Martinez and Suave Salsa.

WiRe was formed in 2008 by a group of senior professional women in the reinsurance industry to encourage the development and promotion of women within the marketplace. The organisation’s membership includes women from almost every reinsurance and brokerage firm in Bermuda as well as from local regulatory bodies, associations and service providers.