BDA to bring together industry leaders for March Bermuda Risk Summit

The Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) is preparing to host its inaugural Bermuda Risk Summit in March, which it says aims to cement the island’s position as the world’s risk capital and build momentum around its goals for climate risk finance.

Scheduled for 14-16 March, the timing of the ambitious new event is well-judged as it falls after the US/Bermuda full-year earnings season is complete and ahead of the mid-year renewals.

As an in-person event, the Summit will be seen as a key focal point for the sector in the build-up to the 1 June and 1 July cat renewals – in which Bermudian reinsurers and ILS funds play a significant part.

As well as covering key industry issues in its programme, the Bermuda Risk Summit 2022 has been designed as a platform to support bilateral discussions between counterparties as part of mid-year renewal negotiations that are traditionally dominated by US wind, including the Florida homeowners market.

It is likely to attract strong participation from Bermuda’s contingent of (re)insurers, ILS funds, intermediaries and other risk professionals, as well as reinsurance buying clients and intermediaries from the US and other markets that come to the island looking for risk transfer and capital solutions.

The Summit is the first major in-person industry event on-island since 2019 and comes at a time when the island’s P&C and life industries have been in growth mode, with Bermuda continuing to be a magnet for start-up capital and innovative structures, while its established players have been seeing a strong flow of business to the island.

The Insurer is proud to have been signed up as an official media partner of the Bermuda Risk Summit 2022, which will be hosted at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club in the heart of the island’s business capital.

In promotional materials for the event, the BDA says the Bermuda Risk Summit 2022 will feature “engaging thought-leadership sessions, cutting-edge keynote presentations, and C-suite networking opportunities”.

“Showcasing Bermuda’s globally prominent (re)insurance market (consisting of commercial (re)insurers, captives, ILS and our professional services expertise) the Bermuda Risk Summit 2022 will not only cement Bermuda’s position as the world’s risk capital but also continue to build momentum around our goals for climate risk finance,” it continues.

The event has been structured to include three half-day sessions with morning panels and roundtable discussions, as well as lunch presentations.

Afternoons are left open for delegates to organise meetings, networking opportunities and client excursions.

Details of the speaker line-up have not yet been revealed but it will feature keynote speakers and panels with industry C-suite leaders,  experts in government and regulation and rating agency principals overseeing markets central to mid-year renewals.

The Insurer comment

There has long been talk of the need for Bermuda to host an event in keeping with its stature as a leading (re)insurance market and sets a platform for its participants to lead the agenda in a fast-changing industry, as well as to facilitate negotiations and networking.

The mid-March timing – as the mid-year US cat-focused reinsurance renewal nears – looks to be a savvy move to differentiate the event from the autumn conferences that set the tone for the 1 January reinsurance renewal.

Arguably, the Bermuda market plays as important role as any in the mid-year renewal.

Its importance as a source of claims paying capacity for US policyholders and cedants was highlighted in a report from the Bermuda Monetary Authority last August.

Data from 230 commercial (re)insurers found that during the five-year period from 2016 to 2020 Bermuda-based carriers paid out claims totalling $209.6bn to policyholders and cedants for large catastrophes, P&C losses and life insurance claims.

Bermuda’s proximity to the US and direct flights to Florida and cities on the East Coast means that it is also a relatively easy journey for cedants and their brokers to make.

We’ll be there, and we look forward to providing comprehensive coverage as the inaugural Bermuda Risk Summit gets under way…