Last night marked the first time an executive of a Bermuda-based insurance company was named "Insurance Leader of the Year".

The honour went to Jack Byrne, a 56-year insurance veteran, who is chair of two Bermuda-based insurance companies - White Mountains, and one of Bermuda's newest companies, Montpelier Re. Montpelier Re is one of the nine companies set up on the Island in the wake of a void in capacity following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Byrne accepted the award which is akin to a lifetime achievement award for the industry at a gala dinner last night in New York before 1,100 insurance executives. Well known for his sense of humour, Mr. Byrne said: "They are all here to applaud me. This award is long overdue, it is almost too late. They should have done it long ago.

"I certainly should have been given the award long before (AIG boss) Hank Greenburg."

On the Bermuda insurance market, Mr. Byrne said: "We are very fond of the Bermuda market. There are a lot of operations in Bermuda. In fact I think the London market is slowly becoming the Hamilton marketplace.

"I predict the Bermuda companies are going to do very well in the next four or five years."

He added: "Bermuda has been a wonderful place for the insurance industry to do business. And a lot of that business has been taken out of London. Don't let anything happen to the Bermuda market."

But Mr. Byrne warned the market needs to continue to harden: "Prices are still not where they need to be in terms of rate increases. Everybody is screaming about rate increases but they are still not adequate."

Last night's dinner marked the seventh annual presentation of the insurance leader of the year honour. The banquet is also a major fundraising event for the school of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science (formerly known as the College of Insurance).

Mr. Byrne said he has taught courses at the college and three of his nieces and nephews graduated from the school. He added: "We raised a lot of money tonight. I am told $1.7 million. Which is a lot more than they raised the year Hank Greenburg got the award."

When asked why he thought he had been named this year's leader Mr. Byrne said: "I have made a lot of money for investors over the past 30 years. That probably has something to do with it. And, they knew I was nearing retirement."

Mr. Byrne did not put a timeline on his retirement but said that of the five insurance companies he heads, he has already turned over the chair of their biggest onshore company, One Beacon.

More than half a century after starting out in his father's Wildwood, New Jersey insurance business at 14 years old, Mr. Byrne is looking forward to scaling back on his professional life.

He said he expects to spend quite a lot of time in Bermuda: "We have been going to Bermuda for 40 years. We have a son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters that live there. My son Mark has his own firm, West End Capital, and now sits on the White Mountains board."