A personal take on setting up shop in Bermuda was the focus of a Bermuda captive breakfast in the Canadian province of Calgary.

An audience of top managers were told that Bermuda is strategically positioned near Canada and is the oldest and largest captive domicile.

The Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) event — in a change from the inaugural breakfast a year ago — put more emphasis on the practical experience of firms that have set up on the Island, rather than homing in on regulatory and business updates.

BDA CEO Stephen Lund said: “The key to capturing business in markets like Calgary is through intelligent research and a strategic, proactive approach to business development.

“The Bermuda Captive Breakfast Seminar is a great forum through which industry experts can explain why Bermuda is the intelligent choice for Canadian companies considering the use of a captive vehicle.”

Mr Lund added that the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) sighed between Canada and Bermuda “levels the playing field on taxation as compared to other domiciles”.

And he said: “BDA was extremely pleased to support this event and will continue to look at other Bermuda-led business development initiatives that demonstrate real value in driving new business in Bermuda”.

Business leaders from large and middle-sized companies at the seminar heard from Kevin Klippenstein, the chief financial officer of Parrish & Heimbecker, which set up in Bermuda two years ago, who described the process his firm went through in evaluating the use of a captive vehicle based in Bermuda to manage its corporate risks and provide value that could be incorporated into its capital management programme.

A BDA spokeswoman said: “The format of the event encouraged highly interactive and engaging discussions between the panellists and audience, thereby generating invaluable feedback for future topics.”

Killan Wheelan, CEO of JLT Insurance Management (Bermuda) led a presentation created specifically for the Calgary market, while the Bermuda Monetary Authority’s Leslie Robinson spoke on the Island’s value as a top captive domicile with access to insurance and reinsurance markets “with a high quality of expertise and a robust regulatory environment”.

Panellists also discussed the tax implications of the Bermuda-Canada TIEA and presented a captive case study for companies writing non-Canadian risks.

The BDA spokeswoman said: “Bermuda continues to be an attractive jurisdiction for Canadian multinationals looking to establish or redomicile a captive insurance vehicle to better manage their risk and control costs, thereby capturing sustainable value for the parent company writing non-Canadian risks.”