Business Bermuda burnishes Island’s credentials in NY

Business Bermuda, the organisation tasked with promoting the Island’s business credentials internationally, hosted its latest annual conference in New York last week on the future of offshore business.

The event, which took place at the Harvard Business Club, brought together 300 attendees who listened to speakers from Bermuda present the case for the Island as an ongoing centre for offshore excellence. Among topics discussed at the event was the rising prominence of Bermuda as a centre for re/insurance and capital market convergence. Beat Hollinger, head of capital markets at Munich Re said that Bermuda has emerged as the “flavour of the day” in the convergence space, with marked interest from New York in the Island’s capabilities as a well-established and resourced jurisdiction – one that “offers a better platform than other competing jurisdictions”.

Greg Wojciechowski, CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) spoke in a similar vein regarding the increasing prominence of Bermuda in the ILS space. The BSX now boasts a market capitalisation of $5.3 billion in the ILS space, he said, with approximately 30 percent of outstanding cat bonds calling the BSX home.

Cheryl Packwood, CEO of Business Bermuda said that events such as the one in New York were an important opportunity for the Island and its business leaders to burnish the Island’s credentials. “It’s exciting to see the increased enthusiasm in the New York market regarding Bermuda’s role as a leader in offshore innovation and regulation. Bermuda is well-known as a financial services centre in all the major global markets, but it is important to reiterate the Bermuda message in the US especially in light of growing competition from other offshore jurisdictions.”