Bermuda executives have completed a four-day, four-city whirlwind seminar programme on behalf of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS), the not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the practice of risk management.

The RIMS professional development department sponsored a half a dozen seminars this month on topical issues, usually co-sponsored by leading industry firms, such as J&H Marsh & McLennan or Liberty Mutual.

Registered participants obtain professional credit for continuing education.

The seminars generally last several hours in one day.

But a seminar on the increasingly innovative uses of captive insurance companies attracted so much interest that the local executives heading it up had to land in four cities on four successive days to lead discussions.

The seminar, Captive Insurance Today, was co-sponsored by the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII), the local body dedicated to coordinating continuing education opportunities for the benefit of the local insurance industry.

The Bermuda speakers included president and CEO of captive manager Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd. Alan Cossar, tax partner of international accounting firm KPMG James Blankenship, senior vice president of J&H Marsh & McLennan Management (Bermuda) Ltd. Rory Gorman and Appleby, Spurling & Kempe corporate partner Chesley White.

They met with risk managers, CEOs, CFOs, corporate counsel, consultants and other professionals involved in risk management in small, focused groups first in Boston, then New York, Washington and Chicago.

Their objective was to familiarise those attending with US tax rules that may impact the formation and operation of captive insurers and introduce various planning techniques which may maximise the tax benefits of an offshore captive.

"They were really keen on innovative uses of captives,'' said Mr.

Blankenship. "They were very interested in new, strategic ways to use captives to solve financial problems. They were looking at getting more out of their captives, or how to form captives to deal with problems they didn't think about before.'' Executives in seminar spotlight educational programmes of the prestigious RIMS organisation, however, can be viewed on different levels.

Although the executives stressed that the initiative was not about marketing Bermuda companies, but rather about cooperation between the BII and RIMS for the educational benefit of RIMS members, they won't deny obvious benefits.

The RIMS choice of the BII for the captive seminar may be seen as tacit approval of Bermuda as a captive domicile of choice.

Because these were practical sessions, where those attending learned about domicile selection and incorporation procedures, it's not hard to see how that could translate into some business for local firms. And it did.

But executives were equally enthusiastic about the opportunity to raise awareness about the innovative solutions provided by the type of business they conduct.

Said Mr. White, "We just dealt with captives, but we could see the need for a seminar on finite risk, on derivatives, on financial products, conversions of markets and other types of business for which Bermuda has the expertise of market leaders.'' Mr. Cossar pointed out, "The length of each of our seminars was four hours, but it was time that seemed to go by so quickly, because the programme was so well integrated.

"I can see how that programme can be repeated, the interest is so high. But there is also interest in more specific topics within this area. We anticipate being asked to do more on these subjects, and if asked by RIMS to suggest other topics, we are prepared to do that.'' Director of information services for the BII Roger Scotton pointed out, "There is a longer term strategic goal here, too. That's to forge a closer working relationship with RIMS, so that they can regard the BII and the Bermuda insurance market as a resource.

"RIMS is in the business of educating its near 9,000 members in the business of managing risk. We're here to provide a resource in that process. RIMS represents the bulk of the North American customers who participate in our direct insurance market.

"So as a long term goal, we are hoping to build on our relationship by working together in terms of professional development.''