Registration Opens For Convergence 2016
Bermuda Convergence 2016 will be held November 9-10 at the Hamilton Princess, Bermuda, in the newly renovated Trudeau Ballroom and Terrace.
This new venue for the event promises to be convenient for delegates who will enjoy the new renovations and upgrades to the hotel. The newly expanded steering committee of ILS Bermuda Ltd has been busy planning the event which is expected to draw more than 300 delegates from around the world.
Last November, the Bermuda Convergence 2015 event was hailed a major success, drawing more than 300 delegates with close to 60% arriving from 15 different countries including Australia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Columbia, Italy, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Greg Wojciechowski, CEO, Bermuda Stock Exchange, and ILS Bermuda Chairman, said: “On behalf of ILS Bermuda, I am delighted to announce we have opened registration for Bermuda Convergence 2016.
“The ILS Bermuda steering committee is focusing on continuing to enhance the Bermuda Convergence networking event while developing additional business development initiatives domestically and abroad.”
“The members of the ILS Bermuda Team are looking forward to welcoming our industry friends and colleagues back to Bermuda to join us in November.
“We are working on a schedule that offers compelling information exchange, a platform for business development networking and social events designed for continued networking. We believe there is no shortage of interesting topics to discuss at the upcoming event”.
Kathleen Faries, Head of Bermuda – Tokio Millennium Re and ILS Bermuda Deputy Chairman, said: “Last year we introduced a series of short talks from a number of leading scientists and top executives across the industry modeled on the ’TEDx’ format focusing on sourcing, valuing and securitizing risk.
“We are working on another great line up of our “Bermuda Shorts” for 2016 that will be a valuable source of insight and education on a variety hot topics relevant to the industry. “
In 2015 Bermuda continued to demonstrate strength with its position as the leading jurisdiction for the issuance of catastrophe bonds. The Bermuda Monetary Authority [BMA] reported 64 new [re]insurance entities registered in Bermuda in 2015, along with a total of 20 new special purpose insurers [SPIs].
Since 2010, Bermuda-based SPIs have issued 119 ILS bonds and the BMA registered 157 SPIs at the end of 2015. In the asset management space, the BMA registered 83 new funds.
Global catastrophe bond and ILS issuance in the first quarter of 2016 was $2.215 billion – the second time issuance volume in the quarter has surpassed US$2 billion, as recorded by the Artemis Deal Directory.
In its latest Reinsurance Market Outlook report, Aon Benfield said: “Reinsurance capital ended 2015 at US$565 billion. Alternative market capacity increased 12 percent year over year to US$ 72 billion and now contributes 12 percent of the global reinsurance capital with the strongest movement continuing for collateralized reinsurance.
Our outlook for the June and July 2016 renewals period remains positive, with insurers likely to achieve improvements in pricing, terms and conditions similar to those achieved for Q1, 2016 renewals.”
At the end of the first quarter in 2016, the Bermuda Stock Exchange [BSX] saw total volume of insurance linked listings, including catastrophe bonds, insurance-linked securities and reinsurance linked investment funds on the exchange surpass $19 billion, which represents over 70% of global issuance.
Mr. Wojciechowski said: “The success of previous Bermuda Convergence events speak to the strong and collaborative relationship those in Bermuda’s insurance, and particularly the ILS space, have developed with the market domestically and internationally.
“ILS Bermuda is proud and delighted to have done its part to ensure that Bermuda has become and remains a centre of excellence for the creation, servicing and listing of ILS transactions. Bermuda’s prominent position in supporting the ILS asset class has clearly contributed to the continued development of the sector.
“As competition develops in this space, I believe that Bermuda’s unique attributes will continue to influence and shape the evolution of the sector.”
