The Association of Bermuda International Companies chairman David Ezekiel and XL Capital Ltd.'s CEO Mike McGavick have been named among the winners for the Bermuda Insurance Institute's (BII) 12th Annual Insurance Industry Awards next month.

The recipients will be honoured at a gala dinner held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on May 29.

Mr. Ezekiel will be presented with the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his distinguished career and his efforts to promote a sound environment for the international business community in Bermuda.

For many years, he has influenced and driven change through partnerships with regulatory, Government and professional organisations and was also the founding partner and CEO of International Advisory Services, which was acquired by Marsh at the end of 2009, having served as the largest independent in the captive management field for several years, and was recently appointed as MMC chairman, Bermuda.

This year's Re/insurance Person of the Year Award went to Mr. McGavick, reflecting the significant contribution he has made to XL and the Bermuda insurance market as a whole over the past year, through his astute leadership during the most turbulent time in the company's history.

In 2009, XL moved from the position of 499 on the S&P 500 to the top performer, with a stock price gain of 395 percent and, under Mr. McGavick's direction, XL was able to re-emerge as a leaner, more transparent entity focused on its core business, with an emphasis on enterprise risk management.

Mr. McGavick also serves as the second deputy chairman of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers and he has spoken at a number of conferences both locally and abroad to highlight a range of issues impacting the industry.

The 2009 Young Re/insurance Person of the Year Award, which acknowledges an individual under the age of 35 who has made a big contribution to their organisation or the insurance market in general or has through promoting professionalism through education, conduct or ethics, was picked up by Kirsten Faria, senior vice-president of healthcare lines at Allied World Assurance Company.

Ms Faria joined Allied World in 2002 as an assistant underwriter and has rapidly risen through the underwriting ranks, building on her industry knowledge and assuming increased responsibilities.

As product line manager and member of the senior management team of Allied World's Bermuda and international platform, she is responsible for the P&L of a significant premium portfolio which routinely proves to be the company's highest ROE producing unit.

Ms Faria also maintains a high profile within her industry specialty, routinely representing Allied World and the Bermuda market with distribution partners throughout the US and Europe, as well as at industry conferences such as RIMS and ASHRM.

She has meanwhile displayed her skills as a teacher, coach, manager and role model for individuals of all ages who believe in the virtues of work ethic, determination and professionalism.

BII president Laurie Orchard said: "It is important that we recognise the outstanding efforts these individuals have put forth in support of our market. Their achievements are representative of the strong commitment of our industry to create lasting value and a gold standard reputation for Bermuda."