Three Bermuda residents have received the Associate in captive Insurance (ACI) designation.

Ronald Campbell, of Marsh Management Services (Bermuda) Ltd. and Kelley Dunne, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, were given their designation certificates yesterday by Philip Barnes, managing director of Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd.

Ashleigh Edwards, of Allied World Assurance Company, who works in New York and was not able to attend, also earned the ACI qualification.

The relatively new designation is administered in the US by the International Centre for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE), of which Mr. Barnes is a director.

Mr. Barnes said the awards highlighted the career opportunities for Bermudians in the captive insurance sector, in which Bermuda is the world-leading jurisdiction.

"As a director of ICCIE, I am pleased and proud to present these certificates and hope that there will be many more ACI graduates from Bermuda in the coming years," Mr. Barnes said.

"Quite often, the captive industry here is overshadowed by the higher profile commercial sector but it is clear that there are very interesting and rewarding careers available for young Bermudians in captive management and the growth and increased recognition globally of the ACI designation will only help increase this awareness."

Mr. Barnes said the ACI is a truly international designation, relevant to captive domiciles around the world.

"The Bermuda captive industry has supported this organisation over the past three to four years by providing tutors and presenters for the various course modules as well as providing two full ACI scholarships out of the funds earned by our annual Captive Insurance Conference," Mr. Barnes added.

Mr. Campbell said the ACI learning experience had been a truly international one.

"This was my first experience with an online virtual classroom, however I was fully engaged with the learning environment," Mr. Campbell said.

"It was exciting to have direct access to many of the top people in the captive insurance field. We had sessions with insurance professionals, accountants, actuaries, captive managers, lawyers and even a seminar with a panel of insurance regulators from various countries.

"The students were from various professions within the business community as well. Interacting with classmates and project partners stretched over six or seven time zones was an invaluable learning experience."