Sold Out Bermuda Risk Summit Hailed Great Success

Hamilton, Bermuda, March 16, 2022 — The sold-out Bermuda Business Development Agency’s (BDA) Bermuda Risk Summit was declared an immense success, with over 80 overseas delegates in attendance.

The immediate economic impact of the event, which had a total of 350 delegates, including lodging, transportation, food and beverage, retail and recreation was estimated at over one million dollars, and supported around 200 jobs. Based on market feedback, dozens of additional visitors flew to Bermuda for business meetings around the event, bringing additional economic impacts to the island.

The. Hon. Jason Hayward, JP, MP, Minister of Economy and Labour, who attended the event said, “Congratulations to the BDA for organising such a successful inaugural event which had a positive impact on Bermuda’s economy and community. Bermuda remains the world’s risk capital, and for decades, Bermuda based insurers have been leaders in the global reinsurance industry. It was a pleasure to meet and hear first-hand updates from some of the world’s foremost risk and regulatory experts. The Government along with the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) plays a critical role in the success of Bermuda’s Insurance Industry and remains a partner, committed to supporting the growth of the industry.”

David Hart, BDA CEO said, “We received fantastic feedback for taking a leadership role in organising the first in-person risk event since 2019. A running theme across the event was how great it was to get off zoom and see each other again in person after such a long absence. Our hope was always that this event would provide an opportunity for Bermuda’s risk industry to start charting a way forward together and meet prior to mid-year renewal season. We look forward to building on this success by making our second annual event on March 6-8, 2023, even bigger and better next year.”

The Risk Summit was kicked off by a ‘sea-side’ chat between Bermuda’s Premier, The Hon. David Burt, JP, MP, and Mr. Hart. In his remarks, Premier Burt said, “Thank you to all those who are visiting but thank you also to our risk industry who throughout this pandemic has been a bedrock of support inside of the community….The objective of this government as we move beyond the pandemic is to make sure that Bermuda maintains its leadership across the board and remains the most competitive place to deploy capital.”

The seaside chat was followed by a panel made up of global CEOs, including Albert Benchimol, President & CEO, Axis; Stephen Catlin, Chairman & CEO, Convex; Marc Grandisson, CEO, Arch Capital Group; Chris Schaper, CEO, AIG Re; and Megan Thomas, CEO, Hamilton Re. In his remarks, CEO panel moderator John Huff, CEO, of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) welcomed the three ABIR-sponsored Bermuda College students in the audience. Also in the audience was a contingent of risk and insurance students from Eastern Kentucky University who flew down especially for the event and to learn about Bermuda’s globally important risk industry. 

Day two started off with breakfast keynote on terrorism risk from Julian Enoizi, CEO Pool Re, and was followed by panels featuring rating agencies, brokers, life, and a Florida Legislative Update. Day two was rounded off by an incredible keynote lunch featuring Aon President, Eric Andersen. 

Our final day began with a keynote on Florida risk by Joseph Petrelli, President, Demotech, with panels on captives, cyber, InsurTech, and Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) following. Day 3 was closed out by remarks about an upcoming Bermuda ESG benchmarking survey by Miqdaad Versi, Head of ESG, Oxbow Partners, UK.

The BDA thanks our diamond sponsors, ABIR, Aon and EY, our gold sponsor Appleby, and our silver sponsors Ariel Re, Kirkland & Ellis, KPMG, and SiriusPoint. We were also fortunate to have Bermuda Brokers, Florida Insurance Council, Kettle, Meenan P.A., and Goslings as additional event sponsors. Our media partner was The Insurer. The Bermuda Risk Summit was a SafeKey event.