More jobs for Bermudians and a return to economic growth.

That, in a nutshell, is what Ross Webber sees as the ultimate prize as he starts in his new role as new chief executive officer of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA).

The BDA, which has a staff of ten and is funded by a Government grant of $4.5 million, is seeking to play a more proactive role in actually bringing business here than its predecessor, Business Bermuda (previously known as the Bermuda International Business Association).

While Mr Webber’s remit is to support and to stimulate growth in the international business sector, he is clear about the desired end product.

“We are hoping for an uptick in gross domestic product (GDP) and I’d like to see more jobs for Bermudians,” Mr Webber said in an interview. “This is the reason why we are doing what we are doing.

“Everybody gets to benefit from the growth of international business. Our membership includes many of the local service providers to international business.”

Mr Webber stressed the importance of “the multiplier effect” in boosting the economy, meaning that when extra income is created by a newcomers or new business, it leads to extra spending, which in turn creates extra income and so on. Even small start-ups can spark a significant multiplier effect in a community as small as Bermuda’s, he points out.

Mr Webber has been in the corner office at the BDA’s impressive new offices on the sixth floor of Maxwell Roberts House on Church Street for only the past two weeks, but he has sat on the organisation’s board since its inception. He succeeds Stephen Lund, who resigned as CEO in February after seven months in the job to return to his native Canada.

Mr Webber has a well-defined strategy for trying to achieve the BDA’s goals.

He explained that the BDA has four “pillars” — the risk industry, trust and private client, asset management and international commerce. While the first three seek to build on financial services industries that are already here, the fourth is a catch-all category for the rest, such as the aircraft and shipping registries, and industries that currently have little or no presence here but have potential, such as biotechnology and life sciences, and technology.

Each of the four pillars has a range of focus groups, led by practitioners in relevant industries, charged with coming up with ideas on how to make Bermuda more competitive and how to generate more business.

Focus groups include asset management (led by Neil Glass of WW Management Ltd), broking (led by Alan Waring of ISBL), captive insurance (Rob Paton, Aon Risk Solutions), insurance-linked securities (Jason Carne of KPMG and Arthur Wightman of PwC), insurance (Nigel Mortimer of Argo Re and Chris Reeves of Bowring Marsh (Bermuda) Ltd), Latin America (Eduardo Fox of Appleby (Bermuda) Ltd), legal (Tim Faries of Appleby (Bermuda) Ltd), reinsurance (David Cash of the BDA), shipping (Angelique Burgess of Concordia Maritime Ltd), and trust and private client (Fozeia Rana-Fahy of MJM Ltd).

“What we’re doing is using the industry professionals to tell us what’s needed and to be fully participatory in the creation of these business development ideas,” Mr Webber said.

“But you need people who can then filter through those ideas and turn them into implementable business ideas. That’s why we have hired Sean Moran and Jereme Ramsay as business development managers.”

The two new recruits, announced on Monday, signify the shift in role for the BDA from being a predominantly marketing organisation to an agency actively fomenting business development. The responsibilities of Mr Moran and Mr Ramsay will include providing information and resources to businesses that are deciding on their jurisdiction, and liaising with regulators, Government departments and service providers to help companies set up operations here.

They will also work with existing businesses on development initiatives.

Mr Moran has more than 15 years of financial services experience, most recently as a vice-president of Citi Hedge Fund Services in New York. Mr Ramsay was previously planning and governance manager for HSBC Bank Bermuda Ltd.

Both have business development backgrounds, as does Mr Webber himself, who was previously Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Economic Development, following private-sector tenures with insurers AIG and Ace and law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman.

The BDA will work closely with the Business Development Unit of the Ministry of Education and Economic Development on the ‘concierge service’ that steers prospective newcomers through the step-by-step process of incorporating and launching operations on the Island.

Mr Webber said he would also keep an eye on developments in other jurisdictions — such as Singapore, Ireland, Jersey and Cayman.

But he added: “One of the joys of being in Bermuda is that we can look at them from a position of strength. If we simply copy them, then we are following — we want to take a market leadership position.”

Cayman has a special economic zone, called Cayman Enterprise City (CEC), designed to attract start-ups from a range of industries. It offers newcomers a string of tax breaks and concessions — including five-year work-residence visas granted for staff within five days — aimed at attracting new businesses. According to CEC’s website, 115 companies have set up there.

“We’ve had a good look at Enterprise City, but we’re looking to do something different,” Mr Webber said. “The Cayman Islands has a great PR machine, but there’s not as much substance behind Enterprise City as you might think.”

While the economy is in need of new business and diversification, Mr Webber said part of the BDA’s role was to help preserve and develop what is already here. The risk industry, for example, can maintain its position as a world leader through innovation, as exemplified by the response of the Bermuda Monetary Authority to Solvency II (new European Union rules for insurers) and the special purpose insurers legislation that has enabled Bermuda to become a world leader in insurance-linked securities.

As far as the asset management industry was concerned, Mr Webber said Bermuda was “looking to grab back business that used to be ours” and the work of the Asset Management Task Force was starting to bear fruit.

The BDA’s interaction between business and government could potentially leave it in a difficult place, particularly if what business wanted were to go beyond what Government could deliver. Mr Webber was quick to correct the suggestion that the BDA was effectively a lobbyist for business.

“We are not a lobbyist, we are a business development agency,” the CEO said. “ABIC, ABIR and the Chamber of Commerce are the lobbyists for business and they are not shy about speaking up.

“Of course, we have industry stakeholders who want to be heard and we listen to them and their ideas. Our role is to implement business development strategies for the good of the Island as a whole, not to lobby on behalf of business.”

For more information, visit the BDA website at www.bermudabda.com