Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. has wasted no time in appointing the successor to president and CEO, David Brown.

Paul E. Hellmers will take over the job that Mr. Brown is set to vacate near the end of the year. But he is already phasing in time in the Bermuda office, and establishing a residence here.

The firm needed to look no further than its New York office to find Mr.

Hellmers, a testimony to the depth of talent the finite reinsurer has been able to attract.

Mr. Hellmers said yesterday that Centre Solutions would continue a tradition of providing solution-based products for leading corporations.

He said, "Centre Solutions has had a tremendous streak as an innovator of finite risk products. We expect that to be a continuing hallmark of our shop.

"But increasingly, a lot of our activities are plumbing different frontiers, especially revolving around interesting and innovative ways of providing capital.

"We are looking for the skills in corporate financing and capital markets activities. We are increasingly looking for people with skills in securitisation and the allocation of cash flows with financing rates.'' He said, "We will be looking at things differently here, though. I'm not so sure that it is securitisation that we are looking at now, as it is a fusion of a variety of different kinds of markets.

"They include the insurance market, the debt capital markets, the securitisation markets and derivative swaps and other securities.

"All those things are being brought to bear to service borrowers and users of capital.

"These types of activities, unlike cat bonds, won't get the same type of press because they are generally private market transactions, but they are occurring in significant size in a really meaningful way.'' AT THE HELM -- Paul Hellmers