ABIR Members Contribute $816M To Bermuda
The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers [ABIR] released its Eighth Annual Bermuda Economic Impact Survey results.
A statement from ABIR said, “The data show that ABIR members’ directly contribute $816 million dollars to the Bermuda economy, but also shows a continuing trend of job reductions in Bermuda. ABIR believes that the aggregate spinoff economic impact of their members in Bermuda is a multiple of that direct contribution to Bermuda’s economy.
Mike McGavick, Chair of the ABIR Board, and CEO of XL Group, plc. said, “ABIR’s members represent the largest business segment in Bermuda, directly and indirectly driving the preponderance of economic activity, jobs, and government revenues. As we explained last year, though, our employee headcount is slowly declining in Bermuda as jobs have been shifted to other countries. The detrimental 2010 payroll tax increase, historical difficulties with work permits, the high cost of talent and other matters in Bermuda and extraordinary competitive pressures in our business have all contributed to this.
“We’re pleased with recent actions the government has recently taken to foster a competitive business environment, including rational reforms on the work permits for the high skilled employees that we need in Bermuda. For every employee we bring to Bermuda, we can create more jobs for Bermudians. We look forward to working with the government on additional changes that may improve our ability to maintain or grow our Bermuda employee base. The trend towards consolidation [five ABIR members have been sold in the last 18 months] will continue to affect our local employment.”
ABIR President Brad Kading said, “ABIR’s members employ nearly 1,600 people in Bermuda. Nearly seventy percent of those employees are Bermudian. The Bermuda Monetary Authority has done an excellent job of creating a regulatory environment that meets international standards with robust prudential supervision. More broadly, Government continues to support the high levels of transparency, cooperation, and compliance standards which are necessary to compete in the markets we serve on the global stage.
“These characteristics allow our members to locate their groups here. Much needs to be done to help Bermuda recover from the extraordinary recession and the government is taking important steps to boost cooperation with the US and the EU, to eliminate red tape on work permits and to encourage residency in Bermuda. We applaud their actions.”
“The total economic contribution is a sum of travel and entertainment expenses, our payments for business services, our charitable contributions, our real estate costs including housing reimbursement, plus the payroll,” noted Mr Kading.
ABIR represents 21 international insurance groups all of which have essential underwriting operations in Bermuda. Eighteen ABIR members participated in the survey.
Summary of the data:
ABIR Travel and Entertainment Expenses in Bermuda
ABIR members estimated they spent just under $28 million in Bermuda on hotels, airfare, restaurants, taxis and catering in 2012, an amount that is down 1% over 2011 expenditures of $28.3 million.
ABIR Business Services Expenses in Bermuda
ABIR members estimated in 2012 they spent nearly $75.6 million in Bermuda on legal, accounting, actuarial, temporary services. This is roughly down $10.4 million from 2011, but up 72% over the eight year period.
ABIR Member Charitable Giving in Bermuda
ABIR members estimated they contributed more than $10 million in 2012 to Bermuda based charities.
ABIR Member Construction, Real Estate and Housing Costs
ABIR members estimated they spent in 2012 over $107 million on construction, real estate and housing costs in Bermuda. This is down from $121 million in 2011. Construction spending has had great variability over the years.
ABIR Member Bermuda Employment
ABIR members reported employing 1,589 full time people in Bermuda in 2012 [down 77 from 1,666 reported at year end 2011]. The year 2007 was the peak year for our employment in Bermuda; employment is down a total of 193 since then. Of these employees 1,078 are Bermudian citizens [Bermudians, spouses of Bermudians and PRC holders]. This is down 37 from 2011. The percentage of the ABIR Bermuda employees that were Bermudian in 2012 was 68%.
Employee Departures from Bermuda
In 2012, 32 employees left Bermuda to work for their companies outside of Bermuda, of which 28 were Executive/Senior/or Middle Management positions. In 2011, 45 employees left Bermuda to work for their companies outside of the country.
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I thought 3000 people left Bermuda.. They say 77.. Why is the OBA steady lying to people.
So if there were no term limits, does ABIR think that those 77 would still be here, or were they likely transferred to work in new offices that were expanding.
This is with ABIR only…
ABIR consists of a group of 21 of the very large reinsurance companies. The 3,000 departures refers to all of Bermuda.
As to whether or not those jobs would still be here absent term limits – good question. I think anyone that works in IB knows someone that was term limited out and is now doing the same job for the same company but just from someplace outside Bermuda.
According to the article, in 2012, 32 employees left Bermuda to work for their companies outside of Bermuda, of which 28 were Executive/Senior/or Middle Management positions. How many of these people left because of term limits and how many left for personal reasons (i.e., they’d had enough of Bermuda) is an open question.
“I think anyone that works in IB knows someone that was term limited out and is now doing the same job for the same company but just from someplace outside Bermuda.”
Does it seem a bit odd to anyone else that only IB have had people term limited out while other types of workers have been allowed to stay? Of course that’s unless they were a british car body painter than they get the same treatment as IB. But the others? I think an investigation should be done on this from employer to employee all the way up to who signed the renewed permit. Surely we can’t have past or present government ministers skirting around past or present immigration laws & getting away with it.
If you are asking a genuine pertinent question then fair enough.
if, though, as I suspect, you are are trying to twist reality to score political points, then perhaps Bermuda needs another round of job exportation to help some of us to finally see the reality of the situation.
like it or not, Bermuda’s fiscal future is tied to IB like never before and we are hanging on by a ball thread.
Did you know for example, that there is only just enough air lift to sustain IB’s presence here. A few more weekly flights cancelled and they will not be able to function here. They will up and go!
Please try to grasp the gravity of the current situation.
Unless of course you happy hand lining for bibblers and selling trinkets to blue collar cruise ship passengers.
“then perhaps Bermuda needs another round of job exportation to help some of us to finally see the reality of the situation.”
OH YES PLEASE! Though instead of IB this time please let it be all the blue collar permit holders who’s employers have hired them over a Bermudian. Then we would have jobs for the majority of unemployed & Bermuda would have a TRUE grasp on the gravity of the current situation.
PLP biased their permit granting to employers of non IB workers while doing the opposite to IB permit holders & OBA has done nothing to address this issue because they are afraid to step on toes.
Well done Re-Insurance companies! And props to the OBA for making these changes!
How is the OBA lying to people, It says 77no longer employed not who left Bermuda. Take into account that thoise 77 peple had families so that will increase the number and I can personally attest to some Bermudians who left.
THe term limits and the high cost of operating in Bermuda has been a definite factor in companies laing off people.
Blaming term limits for 77 job loses is highly speculative. Term limits were introduced in 2001 & six years after there’s a peak for ABIR Member’s employment in Bermuda. It’s very unlikely that every permit holder employed was on their sixth year after 2007 causing a the decline. The decline should have been gradual but noticeable from 2001 on as each employee reached their sixth year & there would not have been a peek during this time if term limits was the cause.
The more likely cause would be the operational cost & would concur with the global plight of job losses. OBA’s first & once elected was to do away with term limits & half a year in nothing has been done to tackle the constant increase cost of operation. Since oba promised to do whatever it took to improve the economy but hasn’t hence they haven’t been honest in their promise.
I’m neither a plp nor oba supporter & only support ideas wherever they come from that help my country. On the other hand Mike McGavick as a true republican would do supports those in politics with ties to old money & will spin the news to keep them looking like the ideal candidates. OBA has their koolaid just as plp did the only difference is the sugar in the oba’s is more refined.
Seems we lost a few regular bloggers on this one!
Don’t cloud the issue with facts!
“Seriously…” has propaganda to spread!
not every ABIR member participated in this survey and there are many other companies in Bermuda who are not members of ABIR…look around the streets and restaurants and schools and tell me that only 77 people have left…..term limits,attitudes,lack of opportunity, costs, schools , etc….we will suffer from the previous Government for a long long time…
When you suggest we look in the restaurants navin should we be looking at the patrons or employees to gauge the amount of permit holders who have left? You do know the scales tip heavily depending on who we are looking at in the restaurants to see how many permit holders still remain?
In the case of restaurants Tommy i was referring to patrons although your point makes me realize that it applies to staff as well…..there are less than 60,000 people living here now and many are permit holders and there families as well as Bermudians……..