captive insurance domiciles, Bermuda market figures show.

Newly-appointed chairman of the insurance industry's marketing committee, Roger Gillett, said yesterday that the industry last year increased its share of the world's new insurance incorporations to its highest level since 1990.

During the 1996 calendar year, 97 new insurance companies were incorporated on the Island, second only to the record 1986 year, when 125 new companies were formed. At December 31, there were 1,470 international insurance companies on the Bermuda register.

Gillett to `optimise efficiency' Mr. Gillett said, "Bermuda now has more than 40 percent of the world's 3,543 captive insurance companies on its register along with some of the leading commercial insurers and reinsurers in the industry.'' He said the marketing committee, which reports to the statutory government body the Insurance Advisory Committee, was gearing for increased competition from other insurance centres.

The committee is using the Bermuda Insurance Symposium to unveil their new Internet site, Bermuda Insurance Market (BIM). Mr. Gillett said other new initiatives will be explored during the 1997 year.

He said, "The worldwide insurance industry is constantly seeking information about the Bermuda market and one way that we could consider satisfying that demand is by putting on generic briefings for clients and potential client groups overseas.

"This is another way of reaching buyers and could be used in addition to our current efforts which focus on establishing a presence at various industry conferences.'' Mr. Gillett is responsible for the global development of captive insurance business for Johnson & Higgins (Bermuda) Ltd., where he is senior vice president.

He replaced Bill Loschert of ACE Ltd. as marketing committee chairman at year's end, paying tribute to Mr. Loschert's leadership.

He said, "Our generic marketing programme has been extremely successful thanks to Bill and the projects the committee put in place over the past few years.

"It's now time for a check up. We're a busy committee which has grown rapidly and taken on numerous new responsibilities over a very short period of time.

As incoming chairman, I want to optimise efficiency and make sure that we are headed in the right direction.'' He ruled out any radical changes, but said a fine tuning of priorities and targets was necessary.

The marketing committee is responsible for coordinating the industry's presence at the annual RIMS (Risk & Insurance Management Society) Conference, which this April is being hosted in Atlanta. The committee also organises the biennial Bermuda Insurance Symposium.

It also maintains a press and information office, publishes the industry's official journal, Bermuda Insurance Update, handles an advertising programme and runs the Premium Club of Bermuda -- an initiative designed to allow businesses outside the insurance industry to participate in its activities.

Committee members include insurance underwriters, brokers and managers as well as lawyers, accountants and bankers from the balance of the Island's international business sector.