Bermuda’s insurance market has long been powered by one of the most valuable commodities in the industry: data.

With vast historical loss records, sophisticated modelling expertise and a close relationship with regulators, the island has become a global front-runner with its new approaches to risk.

That strength will be a focal point next week as Xceedance hosts its second Summit by the Sea in Bermuda, from October 8 to 11, bringing together senior leaders from global insurers, reinsurers and emerging platforms.

The annual event, now in its second year, is designed to promote candid conversation and authentic connection among global chief executives, chief operations officers, chief underwriting officers, chief actuaries and other senior leaders.

Attendees span traditional carriers, reinsurers, emerging platforms and capital providers.

Katey Walker, chief of staff at Xceedance, said the setting is part of the draw. “So Bermuda again, you’re thinking big companies a lot of time.

“So they have a ton of data, just large data sets, lot of historical data. And so they were really some of the first front-runners when you came to the idea of thinking about how to do modelling in different places,” said Ms Walker in an interview with The Royal Gazette.

“They had the right-size data sets, the way they work with regulators. They’re very tied into what’s going on in terms of the economics sitting on the island.

“They’re very aware of the catastrophes, the hurricanes, the different risk factors that have evolved.”

Ms Walker added that Bermuda’s compact but globalised market gives it a unique networking advantage.

“You can take a day and do a bit of a walking tour and meet five or six different companies while you’re there, and as you’re walking about, you’re waving to somebody you met an hour ago.

“So it’s a very close-knit group … great for making networking and connections, global connectivity and a lot of talent from different parts of the world.”

This year’s agenda includes artificial intelligence, capital and investment trends, risk strategy in a digital ecosystem and workforce transformation.

Xceedance has also committed to sourcing products and services from Bermudian vendors, from catering to curated wellness experiences. “Resilience is always a local thing,” Ms Walker said. “Resilience is tied to the community and who’s there.”

Ms Walker said artificial intelligence will be a central focus of this year’s agenda, but the conversation goes beyond technology.

“A lot of people think of AI as either just chat bots or ChatGPT, and it’s really a great first step into it. But the way that we see the technology playing, especially the AI portion of it, is that it allows people to reduce their day-to-day, repetitive or redundant tasks, and it allows them to create capacity in their own day to really think and make judgments,” she said. “It gives you more time to visualise the data and look for insights.”