SiriusPoint: Taking pride in Bermuda

Prompted by a groundswell of opinion among staff, the re/insurer has backed Bermuda Pride since its inception.  

SiriusPoint has supported Bermuda Pride, the island’s annual LGBTQIA+ rights weekend, since its inception in 2019. That support aligns with the company’s values of diversity, inclusion and allyship.  

Here, the company explains how it champions the Bermuda community: 

Why is community engagement important to SiriusPoint? 

SiriusPoint’s global reach gives us a unique opportunity to support, champion, and improve communities around the world. We’re proud to call Bermuda our home and are committed to giving back to an island which has a diverse array of needs that we feel the reinsurance community here has a responsibility to help meet. 

Whether that is helping to nurture home-grown talent; supporting Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo’s restoration project on Trunk Island; fundraising for medical charities such as the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre; or our long-term support of Bermuda Pride, we want to make Bermuda an even better place to live, work and visit, for the benefit of all. 

For our colleagues, community engagement reflects our culture of collaboration. All employees have a say in where we deploy our charitable resources, and they have told us that our support in the commitment of their time and talent to local causes and charitable initiatives is hugely important to them.

Why did SiriusPoint choose to provide substantial long-term support to Bermuda Pride? 

Among our various charitable and community commitments, Bermuda Pride is an initiative that means a great deal to colleagues in Bermuda. It is also an event that resonates with SiriusPoint, aligning perfectly with our values of diversity, inclusion and allyship. 

Although progress on LGBTQIA+ rights has undoubtedly been made on the island, the banning of same-sex marriage in 2022 after a protracted court process was both shocking and disappointing for the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies. SiriusPoint feels that education, including through high-profile, positive, and enjoyable events such as Pride, is a key part of changing attitudes in Bermuda, as with the many other places globally where the LGBTQIA+ community faces discrimination and a lack of understanding.

Our support of Pride, spearheaded by our LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group – SiriusPride – has gone beyond financial sponsorship in order to help change the narrative. We are also determined to ensure our support is of a lasting nature that Pride organisers, the LGBTQIA+ community and allies can rely on.

What involvement did employees have in choosing Bermuda Pride and why was it important to them? 

We have sponsored the event since its inauguration in 2019 amid an unprecedented groundswell of opinion among staff in Bermuda who made it clear that Pride was something we should both support and help finance. Our involvement has since grown, with more colleagues coming together to line the streets of Hamilton in support of Bermuda Pride. Our colleagues view it as a key marker of our One SiriusPoint cultural transformation, which has the values of diversity, inclusion and allyship at its core. 

SiriusPride, our LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group, organises a series of events during the various Pride months around the world. The celebration aligns perfectly with the Employee Resource Group’s objective of creating a supportive and affirming environment where LGBTQIA+ employees and allies can thrive both personally and professionally. As the highest-profile event of its kind on the island, Bermuda Pride is the ideal vehicle to promote awareness and understanding, educate islanders about LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences, and foster a culture of respect and understanding. 

What benefits do you see from partnering with organisations like Bermuda Pride?

Our partnership with Bermuda Pride and our community engagement more generally is a highly visible signpost of our corporate values. It is important to us that we are known as a company which respects and welcomes difference, and which works collaboratively and with integrity with internal and external partners alike.

Internally the partnership underscores our values of diversity, inclusion and allyship and our intention of providing a supportive environment where all colleagues can thrive, irrespective of sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, nationality, disability or background. Not only is this important for the wellbeing of our people, but we also believe it helps us attract and retain the talent we need to create a best-in-class organization, leading to better outcomes for the company, our colleagues and our clients. 

The Bermuda Pride Parade is also a highly enjoyable event for our colleagues to support and volunteer at and a nice way to come together and unite our teams.

In general, how does SiriusPoint measure the impact of its support of charitable organizations? 

Evaluating the impact of our charitable support is important to the company, and we do this through a variety of methods: engaging with our colleagues, working closely with our employee resource groups, and liaising closely with the charities and organizations we work with. 

We look to continuously adapt and refine our approach to philanthropy based on what we learn to ensure we’re supporting those causes that are important to our people, and the communities in which we work. 

In terms of Bermuda Pride, overall attendance numbers and measurement of colleague involvement are both important guides, but for us it’s more about ensuring that the issues are given the platform they deserve and that we can enforce positive change within our communities.

This year’s Pride was designed to celebrate families in all their diversity, which we feel is germane to the empowerment of the LGBTQIA+ community. With events including the Parade, a closing Sunday Service and Beach Day, we were delighted with the all-age turnout at Bermuda Pride 2024 and are very much looking forward to lending our support in 2025 and beyond.

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