Most people dream about idling away their retirement in the type of place that businessman Mr. Ian Heap used to call home.

Skidaway Island, in Savannah, Georgia, has a warm climate, six golf courses and two marinas -- an ideal spot to launch his speedboat for a spin in the Atlantic Ocean.

But this English-born grandfather-of-four has happily given it all up just one month short of his 67th birthday to throw himself back into the world of long hours, meetings and hard work.

As president of newly-formed, Bermuda-based Mid Ocean Reinsurance Company, which opens for business on Monday, he is in charge of the day to day operation of a company capitalised at more than $350 million.

"I was approached,'' is the initial response he gives when asked what possessed him to thrown in such an enviable lifestyle. "I didn't go looking for a position like this.

"This was an opportunity to get back into the ball game. I'm very excited about it.

"Building something that's new, creative and needed provides a great deal of job satisfaction.'' In any event, Skidaway Island was "not what you'd call a retirement home''.

"I stayed active doing reinsurance arbitration and other consulting assignments,'' he said.

Mid Ocean Re, though, is a different proposition altogether, and one which will keep him fully occupied.

The property catastrophe reinsurer is regarded as one of the most significant new company formations in Bermuda in recent years.

Mr. Heap draws comparisons between the launch of Mid Ocean Re and the setting up of its largest single investor, Bermuda-based insurance firm EXEL, of which he was chairman until last week.

"There's a comparable situation in the reinsurance market today that existed in the excess liability market when EXEL was formed in 1986,'' he said.

"That's to say there was a major imbalance between the demand for the product and the supply that was there.

"EXEL filled a vacuum and Mid Ocean will fill a vacuum in the shortfall of capacity for property catastrophe reinsurance.

"To be involved in these types of solutions is a very exciting opportunity.'' There were several reasons why there was currently such a large gap between supply and demand in the property catastrophe marketplace, he said.

"In my opinion, the reinsurance market, on, probably, a worldwide basis, is going through a restructuring.

"Companies are withdrawing from property catastrophe, some because they have lost money, others because their parent company or owners want to relocate resources and for other financial reasons.'' Natural disasters such as the two "one hundred year'' storms which ravaged Europe in the late 1980s, Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew and Iniki and a typhoon in Japan last year had left casualties in the insurance industry.

"There are a number of walking wounded who, if not insolvent, are approaching insolvency,'' he said.

"I'm not speaking about major players, but those on the periphery.'' Extreme volatility in the marketplace makes property catastrophe one of the most risky areas of reinsurance, but it also means there are potentially great rewards, said Mr. Heap.

So what makes Mr. Heap believe Mid Ocean, although well capitalised, can succeed where others have failed? "The difference between Mid Ocean and most other established reinsurers is that we are focused on this business whereas, for the most part, it's just a part of a wider portfolio of business with other reinsurers,'' he said.

"So whilst this business for all the participants has been reasonably profitable over the years, the volatility does tend to influence some managers to relocate their resources to other segments of the business.'' Mid Ocean was bringing new money to the marketplace, in that its start-up capital came from outside investors, not those who would be insured by the company.

Although there was a delay in getting Mid Ocean off the ground, that was not because there was a problem attracting enough investment, which is proved by the fact that the offering was oversubscribed.

"It took longer than we would have liked because we were looking for decision makers during the vacation season,'' he said. "That was the only problem of any consequence -- timing.'' Now was a good time to invest in property catastrophe partly due to premiums going up.

"It's a good time to invest because there are pricing corrections which are taking place and the companies that reinsure are being required to retain more of their business for their own account than was previously the case,'' he said.

"The terms are significantly improved and the opportunity for underwriting profits is greater. The risk is still there, however.'' Mr. Heap, who speaks with a distinctive North American accent despite being born and raised in Manchester, England, has travelled the world during 45 years in the insurance industry.

Most of his working life been spent in the US, where he arrived in World War Two to train as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, which was the aviation sector of the Royal Navy.

He spent almost 30 years in Canada and the US with London-based Commercial Union, was the first underwriting officer for the Home Insurance Company, of New York, and, more recently, was executive vice president/insurance operations of Crum & Forster Corporation, of New Jersey.

Apart from North America, he has worked in London and had a previous spell with EXEL in Bermuda, where he retained a home, at Inwood apartments, in Paget, until the end of 1990.

Bermuda was the obvious choice when it came to choosing a domicile for Mid Ocean Re, he said.

"The most important reason for coming to Bermuda is because it is a tax free jurisdiction,'' he added. "Other places are also tax free areas but they do not have any obvious advantage over Bermuda.

"When the ground is level, Bermuda comes out on top because of its very strong infrastructure. It's also convenient to the major insurance markets.'' MR. IAN HEAP -- president of the newly-formed Mid Ocean Reinsurance Company.