A financial analysis seminar presented by AM Best Co., the College of Insurance and the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) this fall, will be the first held outside the US.

It will show how rating agencies evaluate insurers and provide ratings that are useful to insurance buyers and investors.

The seminar at the BII, starting on October 6, will be modified to reflect the special interests of the Bermuda market.

BII president, Larry Lombardo, said that in view of the number of publicly traded insurers headquartered here, "It is increasingly important for us to have a clear understanding of how our own companies, as well as our insurers in the US, are evaluated by financial analysts and others who track the performance of these corporations.'' President of the College of Insurance, Dr. Ellen Thrower, said the Bermuda seminar was conceived after many requests from the industry.

"This new effort,'' she said, "is but one of many examples underway in Bermuda of collaborative partnerships between education and the many companies that clearly recognise their most significant competitive edge is a skilled and knowledgeable work force.'' Best's executive vice president, operations, Arthur Snyder III, remarked at the high degree of security evidenced in Bermuda insurers and reinsurers through conservative underwriting and leverage ratios.