Bermuda has continued to evolve ahead of the financial centres of much larger countries — driven by bold, forward-looking leadership, insurance executives were told today.

The observation came as delegates to PwC’s Insurance Summit at the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club were in discussions scheduled to focus on critical industry themes.

Key sessions included AI's impact on underwriting, strategies for climate and catastrophe risk and capital allocation across global markets.

Discussions also included managing systemic cyber-risk and navigating evolving workforce dynamics.

The 19th annual insurance and reinsurance forum was launched by Arthur Wightman, insurance and territory leader at PwC Bermuda, who commented: “Few rooms bring together this much capital, risk expertise and decision-making power in one place.”

In addition to representatives from the re/insurance community, also present were Andrew Murdoch, the Governor of Bermuda and Antoinette Hurtado, the United States Consul General.

Mr Wightman commented on artificial intelligence and the remarkable speed at which change was reshaping the industry.

“Indeed,” he said, “the biggest question on CEOs’ minds today, is whether they are transforming fast enough.

“Recent PwC research finds that 42 per cent of CEOs identify keeping pace with technological change including AI as their top concern, well ahead of worries about their organisation’s innovation capability, or medium- to long-term viability.

“But the race to harness AI also brings new vulnerabilities: attacks targeting AI systems are the No 1 cyber threat that organisations say they are least prepared to address.

“Emerging technologies, cyber-risk, supply-chain disruption, and extreme weather are creating demand for coverage, while making losses much harder to model. This comes as global reinsurance capital reaches a record $800 billion — yet a significant protection gap remains for certain emerging and concentrated risks.

“Meeting these challenges will require innovation. Bermuda has always known how to innovate.”

He noted that Bermuda's seat at the heart of the global risk and capital landscape gives us a unique role in advancing all of these important conversations — helping to shape the industry's future.

Mr Wightman said: “Bermuda’s opportunity is not simply to absorb tomorrow’s risks, but to bring the capital, ingenuity and leadership needed to turn them into resilience.”