Innovation and growth for success

The transformed BDA has a new blueprint for delivering success, says managing director Kendaree Burgess.

The Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) is pleased to provide a foreword for Bermuda Risk Review.

Because this is my first foreword since the BDA’s announcement of its strategic changes, I will take some time to give a BDA update.

In January 2024 the BDA began a transformative process redesigning the way we approach the  science of attracting business, by redeploying resources and updating our tools and our processes. The outcome of that intensive process provided the BDA with a clear view of who we are as a jurisdiction, our competitive position and a blueprint for delivering success. Today’s world requires data-driven solutions, much like the risk industry that underpins Bermuda’s success.

Actions provide the measurement stick by which we will be judged.

Bermuda’s risk industry is judged by its ability to innovate, grow, and find new ways to solve the world’s big challenges. Similarly, the BDA must evolve, so what we do hasn’t changed, but how we do it has. 

We are still industry’s voice and industry’s advocate, and we will still engage in many of the same activities, such as our continued support of the Bermuda Captive Conference, ILS Convergence and our own Bermuda Risk Summit slated for March 10–12, 2025. Bermuda has positioned itself as the World’s Risk Capital by adapting and growing, and so must we.

A message we continue to relay to the high-level prospects we meet overseas and at home is that Bermuda is the perfect location for new businesses in our strategic priority sectors, including financial services (asset management/climate risk solutions); risk and insurance; high net worth services (including Economic Investment Residential Certificates); and legal and regulatory tech and infrastructure.

In March, the BDA said farewell to our chief executive officer David Hart after almost three years’ service spent re-establishing Bermuda’s brand in our most important markets. It was under his leadership that these changes were initiated, and we owe him a debt of gratitude after his successful tenure.

Leveraging alliances

This year the BDA has underwritten industry-led initiatives to change and update legislation that  may be hindering our growth in certain sectors, and we have initiated roadshows that introduce  Bermuda to the decision-making gatekeepers in key locations around the globe.

We are leveraging alliances and partnerships to make sure that Bermuda’s name is on the right lists. We are working hand-in-hand with industry and government to grow, diversify and expand our economy in ways that are tangible to the person on the street.

Geopolitical stability, technological artificial intelligence-enabled changes, climate impacts, data security and sustainability are on everyone’s agenda. Despite the challenging global issues, Bermuda’s financial services sector continues to grow and expand with significant growth in the life sectors and in property and casualty.

Bermuda presents an innovative, stable and secure platform from which to tackle these challenges. Positioned within this blue-chip jurisdiction, the BDA stands ready to demonstrate strength, resilience and growth in 2025—much like the industries that support our economic success.  

Kendaree Burgess is the managing director of the Bermuda Business Development Agency. To find out more about the BDA, visit www.bda.bm

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