Five years ago, rookie insurance broker Ms Kim Ramona Wilkerson CPCU, took her boss to lunch and pressed him for a promotion.

Some six months later she was assistant vice president at Sedgwick Management Services (Bermuda) Ltd., the Bermuda insurance company management and insurance/reinsurance brokerage facility of Sedgwick Inc.

A nine-year employee of Sedgwick, Ms Wilkerson became assistant manager of brokerage services last year, having been on the broking side for a little more than five years.

In fact, that promotion-seeking lunch she hosted came after only being on the broking side for about four months.

She entered the insurance industry in 1982 in a work study programme with American International in the overseas underwriting division. In 1985, she moved to International Risk Management Group Ltd., underwriting captive programmes in the Hopewell treaties.

Ms Wilkerson's academic career was quite a success. After 10 GCEs (English Literature, English, History, Chemistry, Latin, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Integrated Science and Physics with Chemistry) at the Berkeley Institute, she attended the Bermuda College for a Diploma in Arts & Science, with a concentration in economics.

She won the American International scholarship in 1981 to study at the College of Insurance in New York, obtaining a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Insurance, cum laude .

It was a significant departure from her early interest in a career in architecture. She doesn't sketch much these days, she said, except when she is on the telephone -- creating "doodling'' designs.

She reflected: "When I was graduating from College of Insurance in 1984, the industry I work in today did not exist. I could never have dreamed of being a broker in the Bermuda marketplace.'' The 33-year-old currently specialises in Excess Liability and Directors & Officers (D&O) liability placements into ACE, X.L., Starr Excess and CODA. She also serves as the Bermuda market liaison to Sedgwick's Financial Risk Specialists Resource Group (FIRST).

"Those companies did not exist. So I was fortunate in terms of timing, in that I had some educational experience that positioned me to get here before other people knew all of this would happen.

"Obviously, C.V. Starr (AIG founder) had foresight in that he set up this trust fund for Bermuda students to attend the College of Insurance. He must have known that Bermuda could be a growing insurance centre.

"I was intending to go to Acadia in Nova Scotia to do a degree in Economics and then go to law school. Dr. George Cook at the Bermuda College first asked if I was interested in applying for the AIG scholarship.'' At the Bermuda College, she was student Government leader and valedictorian.

She won tons of money in scholarships, all kinds of scholarships, but had to give a lot of it back because the AIG scholarship was an all expenses paid scholarship for two years.

Wilkerson: Too many students unaware of the opportunities in the insurance business There was a Government University Award and The Mobil Award, Chamber of Commerce International Companies Education Award, The Richard Eve Scholarship and an ACIA scholarship as a Hopewell Scholar.

Ms Wilkerson said that she enjoyed the time she spent at IRMG and American International, much as she enjoys the work at Sedgwick.

But she concedes that there are some who are running major brokerage houses who have the kind of broad experience she really wants.

"That kind of diversified experience brings a lot to the table, just to see how other operations work in other places. My goals and ambitions are still developing.

She is aware that there are too many students in Bermuda who are unaware of the opportunities in the insurance industry. It is people like her though that are helping to tear those walls down.

She sits on the education committee of the Bermuda Insurance Institute and also lectures CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters) courses on behalf of the Institute.

She served as the 1995 campaign coordinator for the Chamber's International Companies Division Scholarship Award Scheme. The scheme provides financial assistance for college and university students seeking careers in international business.

She is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) and the Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT).

"The interesting thing about my job as a broker is that it is a people job.

Academics are important, but not the most important. In front of academics come good common sense and people skills.

"It is a relationship job. You can be the smartest person in the world, but it is not likely to work if you can't relate to people. We intermediate between underwriters here, and very often some kind of US retail broker and our clients. "The job involves talking a lot, knowing what you are talking about, meeting people and making them comfortable. It is a sales job. As a broker, we represent the US insured, the Fortune 500 company. Here in this small market place, the brokers are the sales force for ACE, X.L., CODA, Starr, Chubb.

"When we get on the road, we have to talk their story and make people feel comfortable with the products that they are selling. We have to know their products like they do.'' Ms Wilkerson sees herself as more than an insurance broker. The Christian woman said she seeks to grow spiritually everyday.

Quite happy on the job, she is quick to point out, "This is not who I am. It is what I do. People ask me how did I get here.

"Very often people are given opportunities and very often people don't get what they deserve. But it is important to realise that you have to go after it.'' Parent company Sedgwick Inc. merged with Fred S. James, a US broker in Bermuda, at a time when Sedgwick had no such US brokerage operation in Bermuda. That was what opened the door for her, after three or four years on the captive management side.

She had been working on the brokerage side for about four months, when there was an opening in 1990. That's when she took her boss to lunch and tried to convince him that she could be useful as an officer of the company.

Probably somewhat cautiously and choosing his words carefully, the senior vice president, Mr. Trevor Metcalfe, the manager of the broking operations, explained that she was still a little new to the job. There may have been some doubt about her unproven ability.

Although she was being turned down at the time, six months later, she won the opportunity as assistant vice president.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You can't expect for anyone to give you anything. Lots of times people wait to be promoted, they wait to go to the next step. If you've got the confidence in what you are doing, that you are doing it right, you have to make your own destiny. I don't believe in luck.

"Again, this business is about relationships. I feel I have a great relationship with my boss. I've been fortunate, in that way. Mr. Metcalfe has a great deal of experience and brings a different set of qualities to the table than I have. I can learn from him.'' MS KIM WILKERSON -- ''It is important to realise that you have to go after it.''