The Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies offers internships both in Bermuda and in insurance centres overseas each year so that young people who are interested in a career in the insurance industry can learn more about it.

Below are blog entries from the Bermuda BFIS interns describing their first week.

Sophie Isaac — Mount Saint Vincent University — Accounting

My first week of the BFIS internship was very informative and fun. We started off by meeting with Leila Madeiros from ABIR. This was very helpful as she broke down the history of insurance in a way anyone could understand. We then met with Paul Brierley from Colonial who explained reinsurance from a buyer’s perspective. He went over the reinsurance structure (proportion and non proportion) as well as treaty and facultative.

On Wednesday we visited Appleby and meet with Gavin Woods, learning how an insurance company starts up in Bermuda from a legal perspective. I liked how interactive the meeting was and how we had a quiz at the end.

In the afternoon we went to RenRe and met professionals from a number of departments. One meeting was held via video — it was very interesting to see how you can be away on business but still able to attend a meeting in Bermuda!

On Thursday we visited Allied World for the day. It was great to be put into groups of two to meet a number of professionals from different departments. This visit stands out to me because I was able to meet with a cat modeller and am now considering this career path. Also I found it interesting that Allied World does not write property and catastrophe insurance like many of their competitors. On Friday we visited The Registrar of Companies and met with Jeremie Hayward, who explained about the role of the Registrar’s office.

He showed us an interesting PowerPoint and samples of a company registering.

In the afternoon we visited Tokio Millennium and met with Meredith Head, Victoria Cunningham and Ed Jordan who gave us a great overview, then we met with a number of other professionals.

I liked the fact that I was able to talk to a cat modeller in more detail. I also found it interesting that TMR has been around for 130 years and is not a public company.

Daniel Andrade — University of Toronto — Actuarial Science

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first week of the programme. I have learned a lot about the insurance/reinsurance industry already, as well as a lot of the back room goings on such as how to register a company and the different forms of licenses for insurance companies.

I even reserved a company name at the Registrar of Companies for a possible future entrepreneurial idea.

More so than the content in presentations, the most beneficial part of the programme for me thus far has been the professionals I have met, along with the advice which they’ve been extremely willing to offer. Bermuda seems to be getting smaller and smaller as I have run into quite a few people at the Bermuda Captive Conference who I had already met over the course of the week.

Zakiya Smith — Middlesex University, UK — Business Management

I have completed my first week of the BFIS internship and must say, having begun with no first-hand but only online/website knowledge of insurance/reinsurance that it has been a very informative, interesting and fun week. Ms Madeiros of ABIR set the internship off to a great start with an overview of the history of re/insurance which gave me a better understanding going into other companies through the week.

Later that day, Paul Brierley was very detailed about reinsurance from the customer perspective, or insurer. What interested me most was the structure which was about non-proportional and proportional, also touching on treaty and facilitative.

Gavin Woods at Appleby gave me a insight about the legal perspective of insurance which was interesting and afterwards he gave us a test which was fun. We then went on to RenRe which was an extremely interesting visit. We heard from a number of speakers in different departments, who gave a broad insight of the company and their various positions within the company. We were shown a short clip entitled “Storm Struck” about protecting houses during storm season in the US which was impressive. My visit to Allied World the following day was very enjoyable.

We were split up into groups of two which gave us an opportunity to speak with individuals which I found more engaging as it gave me the opportunity to interact more and I felt very comfortable.

Then on Friday, the Registrar’s office explained the process of starting up a company. I found out why companies come to Bermuda to do business and now know that we are a very supportive island — it takes as little as 3 days to form a business and 6-7 weeks for the whole process to be completed.

Later in the day, we visited Tokio Millenium and again a number of people met with us and spoke about their roles within the company, which I found very helpful and informational. It was interesting to learn that the company is actually private and that they are based in Tokio. At the end of the day, Victoria Cunningham was kind enough to provide us with a presentation on Railroad Liability Exposures which will be very helpful for our intern Challenge.

Overall, the first week has been very productive and enjoyable and I’m looking forward to the remainder of the internship.

Justin Tavares — University of Central Florida — Finance and Management

I came into this programme not knowing anything about insurance, but in this first week I feel like I’ve learned a semester’s worth. The first day of the programme we were given a short but intense session on the history of the insurance industry both in Bermuda and the rest of the world. I appreciated being able to start the programme with this refresher course, and I felt better prepared to go through the rest of the week. Later that day we learned about reinsurance through the eyes of a buyer, which I felt gave an interesting prospective on the subject. The second day we were walked through the process of getting an insurance business incorporated. This was followed by visiting a second company that gave us a broad view of their business and how the day to day operations went.

The third day was spent exclusively at one business where we observed their day to day operations as well as talked to the key players in their company. Up to this point I had no idea what I might want to do in the insurance industry, but after this session I’m starting to lean towards Cat Modeling. Finally, on day four we visited two companies, where we discussed registering companies and day to day operations and job duties. Overall this internship has been amazing so far, especially because I’m back on the island. It has been fun getting back into island living and reacquainting myself with everything Bermuda has to offer.

Ryan Curran — visiting student from Illinois State University — Insurance and Finance

So far my internship through the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies has been great. Getting the experience of learning from these professionals and getting the chance to network with the best in the business is really invaluable. I’ve been very impressed with the willingness of the companies to take time out of their day to help further us in our education and eventual career. Outside of the educational experience, this internship has allowed me to experience a new country and the culture that comes with it. In the time that I’ve been here I’ve been fortunate to get to experience Bermuda Day and some of the festivities that come with it, many local restaurants, and other great things Bermuda has to offer.

Spencer Richardson — visiting student from Illinois State University — Insurance and Finance

The first week of the BFIS internship has been great! This opportunity has introduced me to a whole new culture. We have embraced the new culture to the fullest. We had the chance to experience Bermuda Day, downtown go kart racing, the beaches, and of course several great insurance professionals.

I have learned some of Bermuda’s history, how Bermuda has become what it is today, and why Bermuda is such a key player in the insurance industry. I am looking forward to learning more through the Captive Conference and company visits in the upcoming weeks.