Bermuda Captive Conference
David Gibbons reveals what delegates can expect from this year’s Bermuda Captive Conference, and how Bermuda is primed for the future
How many attendees are you expecting for the Bermuda Captive Conference?
Traditionally, we’ve had between 700 and 800 delegates every year. Based on the registration numbers to date, we’re looking to surpass that in 2016. However, it’s not only the total number of attendees that makes the Bermuda Captive Conference so impressive—it’s the number of captive owners who attend. That is testament to the relevance of topics on our annual agenda and also the close partnership we enjoy with the Bermuda Captive Owners Association.
What can delegates expect from this year’s conference in Bermuda?
Our aim always is to make the conference as relevant as possible, so we’re focusing on specific industries that have represented Bermuda’s strengths for several years, but perhaps have not always been highlighted in a big way. Employee benefits and healthcare are good examples, along with expanding Latin American and Canadian business, and the energy sector. We want to build greater awareness around what we do well in Bermuda. We also plan to spotlight the path forward for captives, for example, how to reinvent and utilise captives in new areas such as cyber.
What topics will be the main focus at this year’s captive conference?
With healthcare and technology futurist Joe Flower as our keynote speaker, the ever-changing world of healthcare is a major focus this year and we have added sessions to address healthcare and employee benefits. We expect there will be a lot of good discussion around where the healthcare market is going—and how that will impact captives, and, in particular, why Bermuda is the right solution for those captives amid such a shifting industry landscape.
What sessions are you most looking forward to?
Obviously, Flower’s view of the healthcare sector is very relevant and I’m interested to hear what he has to say. I’m also especially excited about a very strong panel we have slated for the first day: it will be headed up by Grainne Richmond, new president of the Bermuda Insurance Management Association (BIMA), and will include a representative of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Ross Webber, CEO of the Bermuda Business Development Agency, and Jill Husbands, chair of Marsh IAS Bermuda. They are going to give their perspectives on the jurisdiction and the overall captive market. Another highlight will be the induction ceremony for this year’s ‘Captive Hall of Fame’. It’s our second year for this new feature, and we’re going to recognise a new group of captives that have now spent over a quarter of a century in Bermuda. We’re also looking forward to the inaugural Fred Reiss Bermuda Captive Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, and celebrating our first winner.
What will Bermuda be working on in 2016 in terms of captives?
As the worldwide leading captive domicile, Bermuda will look to solidify its strengths, including our close relationship with the reinsurance market here and the world-class insurance professionals in it. We’ll be looking to leverage those strengths in ever-growing areas such as Latin America and Canada.
What is the Bermuda Business Development Agency working on?
The Bermuda Business Development Agency has hosted numerous captive insurance-related webinars over the past several months leading up to the 2016 conference. These webcasts have attracted a global audience and allowed panels of experts from Bermuda to explore and detail several of the conference’s hot topics, such as cyber risk, healthcare, solutions for Latin American corporations, and the energy sector, making them highly useful in the run-up to our event.
In September, Bermuda will also host the ALARYS Congress—the biennial conference for Latin American risk managers. We are proud Bermuda has been selected for the third time to host this significant event, underscoring our synergy with the Latin American market. Indeed, Bermuda is the only non-Latin American venue in the event’s history. ALARYS and the Bermuda Captive Conference have been busy cross-selling each other, and we feel they will both showcase the Bermuda’s strengths.
