Bermuda’s business leaders were out in force at the Captive Live USA conference held in Chicago this week.The event, which was sponsored by Business Bermuda and ran from Monday to Tuesday, was attended by Shelby Weldon, director of insurance licensing and authorisations at the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Peter Willits, president of Liberty Mutual Management and vice-president of Bermuda Insurance Managers Association; Janita Burke, partner at Appleby Bermuda; Beverly Todd, executive vice-president of insurance management at JLT, Jason Carne, partner, insurance at KPMG; John Neal, president of Symphony Management; Trina Burch, assistant vice-president of business development and relationship manger at Butterfield Bank; and Yelena Packwood, marketing and sales executive at Business Bermuda.The main focus of the two-day conference, which was hosted by Captive Review, was to “raise awareness of captive innovations and facilitate ‘outside the box’ discussions on how captives can be further entrenched inside organisations, and help improve overall risk management practices”.More than 330 captive owners, service providers, and representatives of various jurisdictions added to diversity of attendees. Panel discussions on relevant issues regarding the captive industry, case studies, and presentations accompanied the opportunity for the Island’s representatives to continue and develop significant partnerships and promote Bermuda as a domicile for captives.“Several of the panel discussions have been very informative, and I am looking forward to pulling down the presentations and developing some business opportunities based on them,” said Mr Willits. “I think that the presentations have been very domicile neutral which was appropriate for this type of conference, and as Bermuda is the largest domicile in the world, we have been very well represented.”Leaders in Bermuda’s captive industry took part in a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Bermuda and Canada: The growing relationship’. Panellists discussed the process, regulations, and benefits of domiciling in Bermuda not only for Canadian captive owners, but also for those across the world. The Bermuda advantage as compared to other popular domiciles was a big topic of interest, and panellists were able to prove the Island’s competitive position in the captive market.Ms Burke said: “There was a great interest in Bermuda, and it was very encouraging to see the interest in Bermuda as a captive domicile. Attendees from Europe, the US, and Canada made inquiries about Bermuda as their choice of domicile, and a few were in the process of conducting feasibility studies. From the questions asked, it is clear that Bermuda as a market needs to continue to educate the world at large about Bermuda and its insurance and general international business offering. It was important to have Business Bermuda, a full complement of service providers, and the Bermuda regulator in attendance to immediately respond to queries.”Mr Weldon said: “I thought the conference was a first great outing for Captive Review in the US. It seemed to be well-attended, and I spoke to a number of potential clients for Bermuda. It has been successful in that regard. Bermuda is a recognised jurisdiction so most of the conference participants were familiar with Bermuda. This proves Bermuda’s reputation as a premier domicile. I have been well received particularly in terms of what Bermuda has to offer in the captive space.”Ms Todd said: “ This conference was well attended for the first time out for Captive Review in the US, and the sessions were informative. I think that having the Business Bermuda and JLT booths help bring business into Bermuda and that the conference will be bigger and more beneficial to keep coming as the captive industry is still mostly comprised of US parent companies.”Mr Carne said: “It was clear from people I spoke to at the conference that Bermuda continues to be the offshore domicile of choice for US captives, and it was encouraging to speak with a number of Canadian risk managers and learn of their interest and excitement about using Bermuda as the preferred domicile for Canadian organisations.”