7 October 2019News

ABIR members contribute $815m to Bermuda economy in 2018

Members of the Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR) contributed nearly $815 million to the Bermuda economy last year, according to ABIR’s annual member survey results.

ABIR’s 24 members contributed $814.8 million to the economy in aggregate in 2018, including travel, business, charity giving, construction expenses and compensation paid to Bermuda-based employees, said ABIR.

Albert Benchimol, president and CEO of Axis Capital and the current chair of ABIR, described ABIR members as “the leading contributor of economic activity in Bermuda,” while also citing the further contribution they have made in training and development.

The survey showed ABIR members contributed $637 million in payroll to Bermuda-based employees; $6.5 million in charitable contributions; $93.4 million on construction, real estate, housing, and office space in Bermuda; $59.3 million on legal, accounting, actuarial, temporary services and other consulting services; and $18.7 million on hotels, airfare, restaurants, taxis and catering.

They employed 1,530 full-time staff in Bermuda, an increase of 35 people from 2017. Of these, 1,135 were Bermudans, spouses of Bermudians or permanent residence certificate holders (PRCs), an increase of 4.4 percent on the previous year. It means over 74 percent of ABIR employees are Bermudians, the highest level since 2009.

The median annual salary and benefits paid to Bermudians by ABIR member companies now tops $184,400, the highest since this metric was established in 2007.

ABIR members provided 57 internships to Bermudians in 2018, and the number of educational scholarships in Bermuda they awarded increased in value by 40 percent from 2017, to $1,595,400. That was the highest amount since 2012.

All ABIR members have licensed operating companies in Bermuda, and more than 58 percent of them have an ultimate holding company in Bermuda. Outside Bermuda, ABIR members reported the top five locations for their global operations were: UK, US, Switzerland, Ireland and Luxembourg.

John Huff, CEO at ABIR, said: “As a global underwriting center, ABIR member companies are committed to delivering economic substance in Bermuda.”