The combination of numerous scholarships that open doors to further education and the presence of a thriving, global insurance industry on our doorstep spells opportunity to those with the necessary aptitude and commitment. 

Two such young Bermudians, scholarship recipients Samiah Fisher and Shayla Robinson, are pursuing college education overseas and eyeing a future in the island’s insurance market. 

Both were among the many Bermudians to have benefited from the ABIC Education Awards, one of the island’s largest and longest-running scholarship programmes, which is led by the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) and funded by member companies. Now in its 47th year, the programme has supported the education of more than 740 students. 

Ms Fisher, who was awarded the Zurich/Hannover Re Scholarship and the Shernelle Outerbridge Award last year, has completed her first year at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK, studying Finance and Accounting. 

In 2023, she graduated with honours from CedarBridge Academy, where she discovered an early interest in mathematics and a subsequent fascination with finance. 

“The scholarships really did help me,” she said. “I’ve just finished my first year at university and enjoyed it a lot. It exposed me to different cultures, people from many different backgrounds and different aspects of work. Finance and accounting could lead me into many different industries, because every business needs accountants.” 

This summer she has been interning in the finance department of The Fidelis Partnership, an international re/insurance business, an experience that has fuelled her interest in the industry. 

Her advice for other high-school students hoping to follow her path is direct and positive. “Take advantage of every opportunity you get,” she said. “International companies are always looking for young Bermudians. 

“Take every chance to network and get your name out there. Go down that path to create business relationships that can help you get a scholarship or internship, or even a job after you finish university.”

Bermuda’s extraordinary business and scholarship environment creates exceptional opportunities for locals, she added. “I’m a first-generation Bermudian, the daughter of Jamaican parents. When you think about it, just being born here gives you an upper hand. You definitely need to take advantage of the opportunities open to you.”

Ms Robinson is another 2023 ABIC Education Awards recipient targeting a future in the island’s flagship re/insurance industry. Having been awarded the Bacardi Scholarship last year, she is about to enter her second year at the University of North Carolina Greenboro, where she is pursuing a degree in Finance.

She graduated in 2023 from The Berkeley Institute, where she held leadership positions, including deputy head girl, prefect and Student Council treasurer. 

“Scholarships are extremely important for Bermudians, especially those looking to work in the insurance industry,” she said. “They lift the financial burden and give many of us an opportunity to study overseas.

“I think of scholarships as an investment. My scholarship is an investment in me and I will come home to try to make a difference in the insurance industry.”

Ms Robinson has an unerring focus on acquiring an undergraduate degree, potentially followed by an MBA, and then coming home to work in some capacity in Bermuda’s re/insurance business. She describes herself as “an outlier” who sets high standards for herself.

“When I think of an outlier, I think of something that stands out from the rest,” she said. “I think of somebody with determination, drive and willingness to do whatever it takes to reach their full potential. That’s how I like to think of myself.”

This summer, she is working as an internal audit intern in the Hamilton office of Talcott Financial Group, an international life insurance group. “I’m getting a lot of hands-on experience. It’s much more than just a filing internship,” she said. “They involve us in calls and projects and I get to experience different sections of the company.”

She urged fellow students to be bold in seizing scholarship opportunities. “If you don’t take the risk, you don’t get a result,” she said. “Try to apply for any scholarship you can.” 

The post Aiming for insurance careers appeared first on RG Magazines.

The NOAA expects between 17 and 25 named storms, of which eight to 13 are expected to be hurricanes and four to seven “major hurricanes” with winds of 111mph or higher.

The Colorado State University’s esteemed meteorological team supports NOAA’s expectation for a busy hurricane season. CSU calls for 23 named storms to form in the Atlantic, 11 of which are likely to become hurricanes and five major hurricanes.

Adding historical perspective, the CSU team’s forecast is for 2024 activity levels will be about 170 per cent of the average season over the three decades from 1991 to 2020. For comparison, 2023 was around 120 per cent.

Meteorologists highlight two main factors behind the extraordinary storm activity expectations.

Ocean temperatures

Most hurricanes form in a tract of ocean that stretches from West Africa to the Caribbean, known as the Main Development Region (MDR). Ocean heat is tropical cyclone fuel and this year, temperatures in the MDR have reached record highs.

In May, NOAA reported that “currently observed sea surface temperatures in the MDR and North Atlantic are similar to those normally observed in late July and early August”.

Temperatures in the Atlantic started to break records in March 2023 and have stayed extraordinarily high ever since. In April, NOAA observed “an area-averaged anomaly of +1.22°C”. During 2023, the comparable value was +0.46°C.

Ocean surface temperatures in the Atlantic Basin were at record highs for the time of year for an astonishing 421 consecutive days, a streak that ended in late April. Even scientists are baffled.

“I do not have any solid explanations for it,” Brian McNoldy, a senior researcher at the University of Miami in Florida, told news website Axios in April when asked about the record high temperatures. “I would say that I’m just a shocked observer like so many others. It’s not just that the global-average sea surface temperature has been record-breaking every single day… but it’s the absurdly-large margins by which the records have been broken.”

Explaining how this worrying warming sea phenomenon points to more hurricane activity this year, CSU states: “When waters in the eastern and central tropical and subtropical Atlantic are much warmer than normal in the spring, it tends to force a weaker subtropical high and associated weaker winds blowing across the tropical Atlantic.

“These conditions will likely lead to a continuation of well above-average water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic for the peak of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. A very warm Atlantic favours an above-average season, since a hurricane’s fuel source is warm ocean water. In addition, a warm Atlantic leads to lower atmospheric pressure and a more unstable atmosphere. Both conditions favour hurricanes.”

In its April forecast, CSU estimated a 66 per cent chance of a major hurricane making landfall in the Caribbean this year, compared to the average of 47 per cent between 1880 and 2020, with the numbers for the US 62 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

La Niña

The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a natural phenomenon whereby the state of winds and currents in the Pacific influence weather around the world. Forecasters expect the oscillation to enter its La Niña phase by the peak of hurricane season, in August to October.

That is a supporting factor for hurricane activity as La Niña tends to decrease wind shear in the tropical Atlantic, creating better conditions for storms grow in intensity.

Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather’s lead hurricane forecaster, explained in an AccuWeather online article how wind shear can hamper the formation of hurricanes. “It can be helpful to visualise a stack of pancakes,” Mr DaSilva explained. “A tall, neat stack is what a tropical system wants to be, but wind shear can cause some pancakes to be displaced and the stack could fall over.”

It follows that if La Niña moves in and reduces wind shear, major hurricanes will have a higher chance of forming.

While forecasters cannot be certain of La Niña conditions, NOAA estimates a 77 per cent chance of this occurring, with a smaller probability (22 per cent) for “ENSO-neutral”. However, there is little encouragement to be drawn from that, as NOAA points out: “ENSO-neutral is typically associated with above-average levels of activity.”

The oft-expressed view among many older residents of Bermuda that “we seem to get more hurricanes than we used to” is backed up by scientific observation of an ongoing upward trend.

“The set of conditions that have produced the ongoing high-activity era for Atlantic hurricanes which began in 1995 are likely to continue in 2024,” NOAA points out.

“These conditions include warmer sea-surface temperatures and weaker trade winds in the Atlantic hurricane Main Development Region, along with weaker vertical wind shear, and an enhanced West African monsoon.”

The message for Bermuda could not be clearer: be prepared!

The post Brewing up a storm appeared first on RG Magazines.

Inevitably pieces of vegetation become airborne and end up on the roof. Heavy rains that are often a feature of storms can wash this detritus into the tank. Also, hurricane-force winds can carry salt spray from the wild seas and blow it right across our narrow island.

The traditional “pineapple” wire filter used to protect the mouth of a down pipe may filter out leaves, but it is no defence against salt residue being washed down into the tank. The Department of Health advises: “Block gutters prior to major storm events to prevent entry of salt water into your water system.”

The website of the architectural firm OBMI, points out a method to achieve this used by many Bermudians. “The size of the leader (or downspout) mouth is roughly the same size as your average tennis ball. The trick is to stuff a tennis ball in a sock, wrap it tightly and place in on top of the leader to completely cover the hole. It works like a charm.”

Though it can be galling to see all the storm rain pouring off the roof onto the ground and going to waste (particularly if the tank is running low), it’s a better option than contaminating what’s already in your tank.

If minor salt contamination does occur, the Department of Health suggests adding some more fresh water to dilute it. In cases when the gutters have not been blocked, it’s advisable to check the downspouts for blockages after the storm.

Any leaves and twigs that enter the tank are likely to eventually settle in the layer of sediment at the bottom of the tank. If the water level is low, government advice is to clean it out — something everyone is obliged to do by law at least every six years. Refilling a tank that is low in water and high in sediment will stir up the sludge, potentially dispersing the contaminants in the water.

If you suspect your water supply is dirty, the Environmental Health Department will conduct either a chemical or bacterial test for you on request and for a fee. You can call them on 278-5333 to request a sample bottle.

To disinfect your water, the Department of Health recommends using four fluid ounces of household bleach per 1,000 gallons of water. This method is effective, but only for a short time, which can be just a few days, depending on how contaminated the water is to start with.

A popular and more effective alternative is a system using the combination of filtration to remove particles from the water and UV light to kill germs. “Point of use” filter/UV light systems tend to be installed in the kitchen with a separate tap from which you draw treated water for drinking and cooking. “Point of entry” systems treat all water before it comes into your home.

In a storm-related power cut that leaves your water pump out of action, tank water will not be an option. For most people, bottled water for drinking is number one on the hurricane preparation list.Make water supply protection a priority this hurricane season — a few tennis balls could save you a lot of aggravation.

The post Protect your water supply appeared first on RG Magazines.

We look back, with the help of various sources, including accounts and memories of people who on two of the biggest, Hurricane Five in 1899 and the Havana-Bermuda Hurricane of 1926.

1899

On September 4, 1899, a nasty storm hammered Bermuda with strong winds for fully 12 hours. Residents were still focused on the clean-up effort, when the arrival of a Category 3 hurricane just eight days later caught them off guard.

Before it reached Bermuda, Hurricane Five, as it was known in the days before named storms, had already wreaked havoc in the Caribbean. Its 120mph winds had destroyed 200 houses in Anguilla, leaving 800 people homeless.

Terry Tucker, in her book Beware the Hurricane! quotes the American naturalist A.E. Verrill of Yale University, as stating that the 1899 hurricane was one of the most violent such storms on record.

Tucker’s book states: “The hurricane seems to have reached its height between 11pm and midnight (September 12-13) and continued with unabated violence until a little past 2am.

“At 3am, there was a lull for about half an hour, during which the rain that had fallen almost continuously for six hours, ceased and the wind shifted to northwest, rapidly growing its former strength.

“No abatement was noticed until about 8.30am, when the rain, which began again an hour or so previously, descended in white hissing sheets and lasted until 9am.”

A weather report by Walter S. Perinchief, principal keeper at Gibbs Hill Light Station, read: “Sept 13, 2am, hurricane with barometer at 27.73 inches.” It was the most powerful hurricane recorded in Bermuda up to that time.

Both ends of the island and the South Shore were severely impacted. Damage sustained at the Dockyard was estimated to run “into five figures”, while the Causeway was demolished by powerful waves at a cost of some £15,000, leaving St George’s cut off from the mainland.

Prospect Camp was described as looking “something as Alexandria after the bombardment”, Tucker wrote. Many large boulders on the South Shore were hurled inland by the violent seas and many boats were badly damaged.

“Great cedars were uprooted, ornamental and fruit trees were destroyed and wharves were washed out to sea,” the New York Times reported. In total, property damages amounted to approximately £100,000.

As noted by Dr Edward Harris, writing in his Heritage Matters column in The Royal Gazette, the storm damaged the Long Arm of the breakwater that protected Dockyard on its seaward, or southerly side, in a similar way to how it would go on to be impacted by Fabian more than a century later.

The 1899 storm was a direct hit. In a letter published by The Royal Gazette in 2014, John William Cox wrote: “I recall being told that as the eye of the hurricane of 1899 passed over the island on the night of September 12, my great-grandfather inspected the perimeter of his house and garden with a candle (this of course being during the days before electricity in Bermuda) and he noted that in the intense stillness of the eye, the candle never even flickered.”

1926

Bermuda suffered another direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane on October 22, 1926. Known as the Havana-Bermuda Hurricane, because it had caused devastation in Cuba earlier on its track, the storm tied with 1899 as the strongest storm to hit the island.

The anemometer at Dockyard measured windspeeds of 138mph before the device was destroyed by the storm. A British warship, the Valerian, sank five miles off Dockyard with 88 men lost and 21 survivors. Another ship, the cargo steamer, the SS Eastway went down close to Bermuda, with 22 of her crew of 35 perishing at sea.

Most of the damage occurred after the eye had passed over the island, as recorded by WH Potter in the Monthly Weather Review of October 1926.

“The calm centre was rather large, taking about 40 minutes to pass, the wind backing through northeast to north-northwest,” Potter described. “The wind blew harder and all the damage was done in the second half and its velocity was at least 120mph.

“Apart from two houses, unoccupied, destroyed in Hamilton, the damage, while rather large in the aggregate, was for the most part small individually. The roofs of probably 40 per cent of the houses were more or less damaged.

“No one was killed and one slightly injured, and there was no damage to speak of to the small boats in the harbour.” One of the notable buildings to suffer severe damage was the old Colonial Opera House in Victoria Street, Hamilton, the roof of which was destroyed.

In an article in The Royal Gazette in 2000, Thomas Aitchison recalled his experience of the 1926 storm. He was 11 at the time.

“As the morning wore on it felt as everything was going to be blown away,” he recalled. “Around the middle of the day it went very, very quiet. We undid one door and went out to take a look. I vividly recall there was a yellowish grey haze and everything was so still.

“From our cottage I could see for a distance of about a mile. It took about an hour for the eye to go over. You could see the storm moving closer by the line of trees bending as the storm hit them. I’ll never forget those trees swaying in the wind like blades of grass.

“So, we hurried back inside and battened down again. You never forget that feeling of the wind going from nothing to being in a great grip of ferocious wind. The rain was torrential.”

The scenes outside afterwards gave him a sense of the power of the hurricane. “Some big cedars, with trunks two to three feet thick, were lying flat on the ground with their roots sticking up in the air. They must have been several hundred years old and survived quite a few hurricanes before.”

Potter’s final observation in his report was this: “The telephone was hit hard, but the electric lights were on in Hamilton by 7pm on the 22nd, and here across the harbour by the next evening.”

It seems that Bermuda’s ability to bounce back quickly — after even the most ferocious storm — goes back a long way.

The post Big blows of 1899 and 1926 appeared first on RG Magazines.

From three- and four-bedroom family homes to studio apartments — to buy or to rent — there is more demand than supply. With an influx of extra people wanted as the Government targets growing the working population by 8,400 people over five years, demand is likely to grow further.

Anyone seeking a place to rent will be acutely aware of the lack of inventory. Adam Birch, sales and rental representative at Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty, said there were some 600 units available for rent in 2018, compared to about 50 in February this year.

But why such a shortage now, after a decline in the population over the past 15 years? Part of the answer may be that households are getting smaller. Between 2010 and 2021, government statistics show the number of island households grew from 26,923 to 28,295, an increase of 1,372.

Mr Birch pointed to multiple trends behind the shrinkage in inventory, including an uptick in home purchases since 2020 that in turn displaced some renters; retirees selling larger homes to downsize; and first-time buyers seeking three-bedroom standalone homes.

“Additionally, some owners are transitioning to short-term rentals like Airbnb for their one-bedroom units to avoid issues related to rent control and tenant problems, aiming to better protect their investments,” Mr Birch added.

There were 565 vacation rental units at the end of 2022, according to a housing audit conducted by the Planning Department.

“We also have had some start-up companies, coupled with digital nomads and the regular influx of expat workers, all contributing to the reduction of inventory,” Mr Birch added.

One might assume there is a dearth of available land for development in tiny Bermuda, but the facts suggest there is enough to make a difference.

Brian Madeiros, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty, said: “Our market intelligence suggests that there are around 50 undeveloped residential lots on the market for sale, 80 per cent of which are under $1 million.

“The Bermuda Government and related quangos have a sizeable portfolio of developable land and brownfield sites. Within the City of Hamilton and western outskirts, many of the commercial properties have exceeded their useful economic life, presenting opportunities for hybrid residential and office development.”

In its Economic Development Strategy 2023-2027 document, the Bermuda Government said the Planning Department had identified 582 parcels, or 181 acres, of vacant Residential 1, Residential 2 or Rural land that had no conservation area development restriction.

The report added: “The data analysis for housing demand and supply therefore indicates that there is ample land available to meet housing demands within existing residential zoned areas, as well as the Mixed-Use Zones and the City of Hamilton.”

With housing demand high and plots available, should market forces not be driving a wave of newbuilds?

“The challenge of producing more residential inventory isn’t so much about the lack of available development land, but rather the cost of construction,” Mr Madeiros said.

“With construction rates ranging from $750 to $1,000 per square foot and sale rates for high-end condominiums hovering at around $1,250 per square foot, development profit margins remain thin or non-extent.”

Mr Madeiros added that one potential source of capital could be Economic Investment Residential Certificate holders, who gain residency rights by investing at least $2.5 million in the local economy, and who could find long-term rental income attractive.

He added that there was great market interest in Economic Empowerment Zones, two of which are in the city of Hamilton, which provided incentives for residential property development.

“The policy allows ‘restricted’ individuals — work permit holders, for example — to purchase residential property in these zones without the need to have a residential certificate,” Mr Madeiros said. “From a developer’s risk mitigation perspective, this is invaluable.

“As our residential inventory levels are so low and a considerable amount of our city commercial property continues to suffer from age and obsolesce, one questions whether the entire City of Hamilton should be designated an EEZ.”

Alex DeCouto, president of Greymane, agreed that today’s construction economics meant that newbuild homes could not qualify as “affordable”.

After steep increases in the cost of materials over the past four years, building costs per square foot ranged from $500 to $1,000, he estimated. “So a 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom unit is going to cost at least $500,000 to build — and that does not include land, financing, or any of the other costs involved,” Mr DeCouto said.

The Government has tried to help more first-time buyers get financing through its mortgage guarantee scheme in partnership with Bermuda Commercial Bank.

David Burt, the Premier and Finance Minister, said in February there had been 49 successful applicants so far.

Mr DeCouto pointed out that, despite the good intentions, the initiative could be having an adverse effect on property affordability.

“The mortgage guarantee programme is a demand-side intervention and it has been quite successful in attracting borrowers, but I wonder what the impact has been on the price of properties under $750,000? Maybe someone trying to sell a property for $500,000 a year ago might now try to sell it for $700,000 because there are more potential buyers?

“My argument is that we need supply-side interventions. Anything else is just going to add gasoline to the fire of house prices.”

Mr DeCouto is compiling research on potential affordable housing solutions and he believes government involvement is critical, citing the success of Singapore as an example of what’s possible. He said Singapore invests about 10 per cent of its national budget in housing — by comparison the Bermuda Housing Corporation budget is less than 1 per cent of Bermuda’s public spending.

“The Government has access to land and finance,” he said. “There are billions of dollars in the Bermuda pension system and we invest it all overseas. In Singapore, they use some of their pension money to invest in Singapore.

“I accept the argument for protecting those pensions in realistic investments. But I do think we could probably invest 5 per cent in an affordable housing scheme that is going to produce perpetual cash flow returns.”

The post Bermuda’s housing conundrum appeared first on RG Magazines.

The long-awaited refurbishment of the Fairmont Southampton, the construction of Brookfield Re’s nine-storey office building on Front Street, and the new government-led Morgan’s Point development will generate significant work.

This comes at a time when the industry has been through a tumultuous few years, featuring a surge in residential work arising from the pandemic, rampant materials inflation and supply-chain issues, a spike in interest rates that has created project financing challenges, and the depletion of local aggregate supplies that has caused the cost of concrete block to rocket.

Despite the challenges, local contractors remain busy.

Alex DeCouto, president of construction management company Greymane, said businesses continued to invest in building and renovation — a promising indicator of confidence in the economy.

Trade could be even brisker, but for a growing backlog of building permit applications awaiting approval by the Planning Department, he added. Having tracked statistics, Mr DeCouto found that of the 830 building permits applied for through 2022 and 2023, only 443 were issued, a conversion ratio of 53 per cent, leaving a cumulative 387 applications outstanding by the end of last year.

“They’re only approving 40 or 50 per cent in a given month and they’re not catching up,” Mr DeCouto said. “It’s a concern because so many things are in play in driving whether construction starts or not. It can be quite delicate to put together the capital to support one of these projects and then if they’re forced to wait for three or four months, with interest rates as they are, they may decide it’s taken too long.”

It was apparent Planning needed more staff, he said, and as the delays added to already considerable construction inflation, the shortfall needed to be addressed urgently.

Concrete costs, which surged by about 50 per cent with the loss of local aggregate supplies, will remain elevated, Mr DeCouto said.

“We might find somewhere on the island where we could dig out some more, but ultimately, we’re getting our aggregate from somewhere else and that’s expensive. Every product we use in construction has to be brought in from overseas and that really means we’ll always have an affordability problem.”

While the major projects will bring welcome business to local contractors, Mr DeCouto said the

island did not have the capacity to provide much of the extra labour needed.

“Right now between 25 and 30 per cent of construction industry workers are here on work permits,” he

said. “So when you start a large project that immediately requires hundreds of extra workers, then most of them are going to have to come in from off island.

“There may be opportunities for locals to get a higher-paying job because of the increased activity, but I don’t see construction taking workers from other industries.”

He estimated the Fairmont job, which the Government has estimated will create about 700 jobs during the construction phase, will have a peak number of about 400 workers on site at one time, while the Brookfield tower was likely to peak at below 100.

In brief, the details of the major projects are:

Fairmont Southampton

Closed since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down Bermuda’s tourism industry in 2020, the Fairmont Southampton and the 700-plus jobs it provides has been sorely missed. After a lengthy and controversial planning saga, ground was finally broken at the beach club in January and renovations started at the hotel at the start of February.

The Miami-based investment group Gencom and its local subsidiary Westend Properties are behind the vast project, with construction work at the hotel expected to take about 20 months.

By the end of 2025, half of the rooms are expected to be open to guests and public spaces open.

A host of local contractors were involved from the off, including Atlantic Mooring, BCM Construction and Insulcon Construction, On-Site Engineering, Performance Construction and architectural consultant HDH Ltd.

The Fairmont facelift is only part of a bigger project outlined in plans approved under a Special Development Order that will result in the building of up to 159 tourism and 91 residential units in buildings of up to four storeys, a project that will continue to generate construction work for years to come.

Brookfield Re tower

The nine-storey tower that will house Brookfield Re’s new global headquarters on Front Street will also be home to the company’s Bermudian-domiciled affiliates, Brookfield Property Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners and Brookfield Business Partners. The plans also provide for retail space on the ground floor and along Chancery Lane.

The Development Applications Board rejected the plans, with their reasons including the “excessive” height of the building, but Vance Campbell, Minister of the Cabinet Office, overturned the DAB ruling to give the green light to the project.

Brookfield is a global private equity, insurance and infrastructure giant, which describes itself as a “pioneer of long-term impact”. That could certainly be true in Hamilton, where its building could well set a precedent for building upwards rather than outwards in the city — an approach advocated by many who see it as a way of meeting Bermuda’s development needs while protecting green space.

Morgan’s Point development

Rising as a phoenix from the ashes of the failed project to build a plush resort at Morgan’s Point is a housing development. Legislation to create a government-owned company to oversee the redevelopment of the 37-acre property was passed in 2022.

As the Government works to extract value from the site, it intends to build a wide spectrum of rental units “to address housing needs at all levels”. The first phase of work will be to convert five partially completed buildings into 35 new high-end units aimed primarily at international business workers.

The post Return of the Mega Projects appeared first on RG Magazines.

Chidozie Ofoego was named the new Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He will be responsible for the finance ministry’s headquarters, Accountant-General’s department, the Department of Social Insurance, the Office of the Tax Commissioner, Customs tariff and duty collection, and the Registrar of Companies. His previous experience includes working for the London Borough of Hounslow and as director of financial reporting and planning at Imperial College London. 

Gemma Rochelle has been promoted to to executive vice-president, group general counsel and chief compliance officer at BF&M. She has also been promoted to the group executive committee.

Hamilton Insurance Group named two new directors to its board: Therese Vaughan, a former CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the standard-setting body for insurance regulation in the US, and Neil Patterson, the retired chairman of the KPMG group of entities in Bermuda, who will also serve as chairman of the Hamilton board’s audit committee.

Everest Group has promoted Jim Williamson to lead its reinsurance and insurance businesses, adding to his existing responsibilities as Everest’s executive vice-president and group chief operating officer.

Robin Saul has been appointed deputy managing director and legal counsel at Arch Insurance (Bermuda). She joined Arch in 2019 as head of claims and legal counsel, and will retain her current responsibilities in addition to her expanded new role.

Greg Hendrick, the CEO of Bermudian-based Vantage Group, has been appointed as an independent director on the board of Verisk, the global data analytics and technology provider.

Clarien Bank has appointed Roger Brown as senior vice-president and head of commercial banking. He will be responsible for managing Clarien’s growing portfolio of high-value client relationships within the commercial, corporate and institutional sectors. Mr Brown was previously a regional vice-president in Commercial Banking at Laurentian Bank in Toronto. 

Jamie Schmerer has been promoted to the role of SVP, Enterprise Risk at Fortitude Re. His responsibilities will include leading Fortitude Re’s regulatory relations efforts in Bermuda.

Charles Craigs has joined Ascot Group as managing principal overseeing the company’s third-party capital operations in Bermuda. Mr Craigs joins Ascot from Canopius Re, where he spent 15 years in executive leadership roles, most recently as CEO of the Canopius Bermuda platform.  Ascot also announced the appointment of Dane Lopes as head of US Partnership Engagement & Strategy.

The Everen Specialty board of directors appointed John Talarico as chairman and Tim Bucci as deputy chairman.

Chris Sinkey has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer at Relm Insurance, the specialty carrier supporting emerging and innovative industries. He will oversee sales and marketing, operational excellence, and corporate development, including capital raising and M&A.

International General Insurance has promoted Stav Tsielepis to the post of group chief actuary, with responsibility for capital, pricing, reserving and exposure management.

Rosemarie Minors has been appointed manager, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs and Privacy Officer at Axa XL in Bermuda. The company also announced the appointments of Tiffany Heslop, vice-president, senior underwriter, Excess Casualty, Insurance and James Gregory, vice-president, senior underwriter, Professional Lines, Insurance.

Juniper Re, the reinsurance broker, has appointed Chris Hayward as head of office to lead its new Bermuda operation.

The post Movers and shakers appeared first on RG Magazines.

After years of increasing costs, the outlook for Bermuda’s local business community brightened in the first quarter with the increasingly realistic prospect that at least some costs could start to fall over the next two years.

The reason is the imminent corporate income tax (CIT): the first estimate of what it will add to government coffers came in David Burt’s Budget statement in February — “at least $750 million a year”, the Premier and finance minister said. That is the equivalent of 60 per cent of the Government’s revenue estimate for 2024-25. Such a boost would create considerable opportunities for cutting taxes.

With CIT funds expected to flow in from July 2025, Mr Burt floated ideas including seeding a new health insurance fund with capital to support implementation of universal healthcare and cutting duty on fuel, food and construction items in the next fiscal year. And by 2026-27, he suggested employer payroll tax could be reduced.

The good news is there is little sign of a vanishing tax advantage sparking an exodus of international companies of economic substance, although much attention this year will be focused on the nature and size of qualified refundable tax credits, which will be critical to domicile decisions being considered in boardrooms.

The Government has signalled that companies within scope of the CIT will no likely no longer pay the employer’s share of payroll tax.

How the impact pans out will depend heavily on the ongoing work of the Tax Reform Commission. Led by Darren Johnston, the TRC has been tasked with making recommendations on tax credits, revisions to the tax system, how CIT funds should be spent for the community’s benefit, and legislative or constitutional guardrails (perhaps to ensure that a certain proportion of the money pays down debt or tops up the underfunded Contributory Pension Fund).

The deadline for the TRC’s final recommendations is the end of October this year.

It all seems too good to be true, and ironic, that Bermuda appears set to benefit enormously from a global minimum tax regime designed by large countries to effectively drive business away from offshore financial centres.

The new rules, the result of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development initiative, require multinationals with revenue over 750 million euros ($815 million) to pay a rate of at least 15 per cent by allowing governments to apply a top-up tax on revenues earned in countries with lower rates.

Could the CIT prove to be a fiscal and economic lifeline? Only time will tell.

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One of the reasons why Bermuda’s international re/insurers are not looking to take flight at the first sign of a tax on profits is that the island is a genuine global hub for the industry with a cluster of world-leading talent and regulation that meets the highest international standards.

A powerful reminder of that was the third Bermuda Risk Summit in March. The Bermuda Business Development Agency event attracted more than 450 delegates, 40 per cent of them from overseas, including re/insurance executives, regulators, risk managers from companies including Amazon, and industry media.

The BDA estimated that the event generated around $3.4 million in economic activity, supporting 432 jobs. But as the BDA observed: “Far more significant were the long-term economic benefits brought about by the additional visitors who flew to Bermuda for business meetings during the week of the summit.”

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The demolition work taking place at 91 Front Street this year heralds a rejuvenation for a Hamilton site previously occupied by a boarded-up building.

Brookfield is the company behind the nine-storey development, which will act as the headquarters for all of the company’s Bermudian-domiciled listed affiliates — Brookfield Reinsurance, Brookfield Property Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners and Brookfield Business Partners.

There will also be office space for tenants and retail space on the ground floor, on both the Front Street and Reid Street sides of the building. In his 2024-25 Budget Statement, David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, estimated the project to construct the building would support about 200 jobs over an 18-month period.

What exactly is Brookfield? While Bermudians are accustomed to seeing large offices bearing the name of re/insurance companies, it is unusual to see international companies in other industries owning their own office building on the island.

That’s not to say Brookfield does not have insurance interests — its insurance solutions business, founded in 2020, has already grown to have more than $100 billion in assets under management. Part of it is Brookfield Re, which purchased Bermudian-based Argo Group in a $1.1 billion all-cash deal that closed in November last year. However, insurance is only a small part of the vast global network of Brookfield companies with head offices in Toronto and more than 200,000 employees around the world.

On the face of it, there could be few better businesses on the planet to oversee a real estate development. Brookfield’s real estate division owns more than 500 million square feet of prime real estate around the world, including London’s Canary Wharf.

The philosophy underpinning these investments is “high-quality properties in the best locations, as well as the strong tenant basis and long-term leases they attract, will withstand market cycles and drive long-term value”.

One of Brookfield’s most remarkable projects is Manhattan West in New York. The eight-acre, mixed-use complex was built on a platform over rail tracks running into Penn Station. It has revitalised the Hudson Yards district with four office buildings, an apartment block, the Pendry West Manhattan Hotel and a 2.5-acre pedestrian plaza, open to the public.

In addition to real estate, Brookfield’s $900 billion portfolio includes infrastructure, renewable energy, private equity, credit and insurance. One of its infrastructure businesses is Triton International, the world’s largest lessor of intermodal freight containers, a Bermudian-based company acquired last year by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a $13.3 billion deal.

Brookfield’s connections with Bermuda have attracted some controversy around its tax practices. A report last June by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) was titled, “Brookfield’s Bermuda base: is Canada’s largest alternative asset manager dodging global taxes?”

The report stated: “Brookfield’s structure has been described as a cascading ownership pyramid, with local subsidiaries controlled by complex chains of foreign entities with direct investments through individual investment funds ultimately winding up in Bermuda.”

A search of the Bermuda Registrar of Companies website found 282 entities bearing the Brookfield name — 16 more than were mentioned in last year’s CICTAR report. Brookfield Ltd appears to have been the first one to form, with an incorporation date of January 27, 1998.

The International Tax Review, when it reported on the CICTAR report in June last year, quoted a Brookfield spokesman as saying: “We are committed to providing relevant and proportionate disclosure about our tax payments in accordance with recognised reporting frameworks and in a manner that is both informative and transparent.”

The new Front Street building will increase certainly Brookfield’s economic substance in Bermuda. Brian Kingston, chief executive of Brookfield’s Real Estate business, said in March last year when the plan was first announced: “This development is a reflection of our commitment to Bermuda, one of the most sophisticated financial and business markets globally, with access to top talent. We see numerous opportunities for growth in the coming years.”

On its website, the company says in real estate, it has a “focus on ‘placemaking’ —creating places for people to live, work, dine, shop and play”. Bermudians will hope that is reflected in Hamilton.

Brookfield did not answer our requests for comment for this article.

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“Game changer” may be an overused phrase these days, but in the case of Generative Artificial Intelligence and its potential to transform business, it is an undeniably apt description.

Global management consultant Accenture says GenAI portends “likely the most significant change to work since the agricultural and industrial revolutions”. It promises to cut out drudgery and massively increase productivity. Businesses in Bermuda and around the world are scrambling to harness its power.

Stuart Lacey, founder of the Bermuda Clarity Institute and a recognised expert in GenAI solutions and tools, leads AI workshops at the BCI’s New Venture House home. In these popular sessions, he has seen mixed reactions — many people excited to put GenAI to work and some fearing for their jobs.

Historically, technological revolutions — from the printing press to electricity to the silicon chip — have followed a pattern of adoption, with each successive wave occurring at a faster pace than the preceding one. “Today’s pace of change is accelerating like a freight train and you need to try to get on,” Mr Lacey said.

Citing the name of the inventor of a history-changing, 15^th-century printing press, Mr Lacey said: “If you analyse those ‘Gutenberg moments’ in history, 20 per cent of the impact was human replacement and 80 per cent was human augmentation. Most people tend to focus too much on the job replacement aspect and miss the other four-fifths of the historically-proven impact, which is the growth and value created from human augmentation.”

Using an analogy with the familiar concept of horsepower, Mr Lacey cites the example of a solopreneur who could suddenly go from one to about 20 humanpower by using GenAI to effectively have a finance team, researchers and a marketing crew, for example.

What are the use cases for Bermudian businesses? Mr Lacey and Aaron Smith, BCI’s AI growth leader and president of the Igility Group of Companies, gave multiple examples, grouped into several categories. They include:

• Content generation: GenAI enables the creative generation of content, from targeted marketing materials to product development plans, amplifying productivity and creativity
• Content rewriting: repurposing existing content or translating into multiple languages to target different groups, particularly beneficial in marketing strategies
• Extraction: extracting structured information from unstructured data sources like text documents
• Data analytics: drawing actionable insights from rapid analysis of datasets, such as financial statements
• Social media management: crafting tailored social media posts based on customer data and target audience preferences, mirroring the work of a dedicated social media team
• Meeting optimisation: revolutionising corporate meetings by summarising discussions in real time, eliminating the need for manual note-taking and allowing outcome to be shared efficiently

“HR is a classic example of a use case that people in our workshops tell us they go back and implement immediately,” Mr Smith said. “We show them how to thoughtfully put together company information and a job profile and turn AI into your extended HR team. It will help you to assess candidates, identify skills gaps in resumes and design interview questions.”

Mr Lacey points out it is not the technology itself that delivers benefits to a business, but how users interface with it. Training the workforce is not only essential for effective AI implementation, but also to win over people feeling threatened, by showing how their current role could be expanded rather than eliminated.

“Prompt engineering” — the process of asking AI for something — is how humans interface with the technology. Typing in a single, brief instruction, will rarely be enough. An essential skill is “prompt stacking”, the crafting of a series of prompts to steer AI towards the desired outcome.

“Rushing to put shiny new tech in without paying attention to data rights, privacy and proper training will not achieve its full potential and waste time and effort,” Mr Lacey said.

“First, companies should do an AI audit, a diagnostic and strategy document to assess AI readiness. That means take stock of where you’re at first: consider what software you need, what data you can put into the models, consider privacy and data rights, ideal use cases, low-hanging fruit — and then move forward on an informed basis — ‘less haste equals more progress’.”

BCI has launched an AI audit service and recommends businesses undergo this process in parallel with staff training. Additionally, BCI is rolling out fractional AI services, giving businesses access to an AI worker to enable a controlled implementation at a fraction of the cost of hiring an expert.

For more information, visit https://clarity.framer.ai

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