Bermuda is no longer the obvious destination of choice for new insurance start-ups — that is according to some of the Island's top industry leaders.

Speaking on a panel at the Insurance Day Summit held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess yesterday, Ed Noonan, chairman and chief executive officer of Validus Holdings, and Michael Price, president and CEO of Platinum Re, both agreed that there were a number of other locations which were just as attractive to new incorporations, such as Lloyd's of London, Switzerland and Dublin.

Meanwhile, at the same event, Bermudian Brian Duperreault, CEO of Marsh & McLennan, talked about his new role and how to manage enterprise risk management (ERM).

Mr. Noonan said he was not convinced that Bermuda was the place for new insurers to set up, pointing to his own company's acquisition of Lloyd's Syndicate Talbot as an example of the advantages other markets can offer.

"We bought a Lloyd's syndicate last year for a number of reasons including the fact that the regulatory environment in the UK and the speed to market has improved dramatically," he said.

"From a return to equity standpoint, Lloyd's is a much more effective vehicle and I think there is a lot of factors to argue that Lloyd's will be the focus for a lot more capital to enter the market."

He said that while there might be a lot of capital available to the market, he did not think there would be a big wave of start-ups in Bermuda, like the classes of 2001 and 2005, in the future.

Mr. Price, meanwhile, spoke of the softening market and the availability of capital sources.

"I think it is a cyclical business and there are some segments of the business that follow their own cycles," he said.

"But generally speaking, I think we are reaching a soft point and I think we are there is an abyss and that we are heading for it."

He went on to speak about outsourcing, the importance of having a diversified portfolio and developed versus emerging markets.

Mr. Duperreault talked about taking up his new post with Marsh and how the job is going before focusing on what went wrong with ERM over the past few months and what lessons could be learned from it.

He said that ERM effects companies across the board from financial institutions and banks to reinsurance firms and it was important for them to understand the strategy involved in implementing and maintaining it and how to realise its true value.

"Goldman Sachs, for example, fared much better than those who did not understand ERM," he said.

"But rigorous risk management must be complemented by good judgment.

"Certainly some of the pain might have been avoided if some of the companies had instilled a thorough ERM programme.

"Risk management reforms must begin at the top and flow through the company and it must be used as an approach to maximising performance and optimising the value of the company, while integrating risk management into the processes if the organisation, and management must clearly articulate the overall risk appetite of the organisation."

The day had kicked off with an opening speech by Finance Minister Paula Cox, followed by Mr. Duperreault's keynote address and the panel discussion, which was proceeded by a speech from the Bermuda Monetary Authority's CEO Matthew Elderfield on Solvency II and the implications for Bermudian insurers and reinsurers in a global market, with the morning concluding with a talk on integrating acquisitions, and managing and supporting growth across multiple geographic platforms by Mitchell Blaser, chief financial officer of Ironshore.