The future of Bermuda's insurance industry was showcased at the Bermuda Insurance Institute (BII) Education Awards lunch 2008 held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess yesterday.

A total of 126 students achieved 132 qualifications in 16 different areas at the annual event, which was attended by students, mentors, bosses and companies from across the Island's re/insurance sector.

Among the awards presented were the Insurance Institute of America's Certification in General Insurance, Associate in Management and Associate in Risk Management for Public Entities, the BII's Bermuda Insurance Diploma, the Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance, Claims, Reinsurance and Surplus Lines Insurance, the American Institute for CPCU's Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, the Chartered Insurance Institute's Advanced Diploma in Insurance, Diploma in Insurance and Certificate in Insurance, and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society's Registered Professional Liability Underwriter. The event kicked off with drinks and lunch followed by a speech from BII president Laurie Orchard and guest speaker Gino Smith, assistant vice-president and underwriter at XL Re and then the awards ceremony presented by Julie Preece, director of training and education at the BII.

Chris Holden, assistant vice-president at CTC Allegro, who was awarded the American Institute for CPCU's Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, said the award meant he had committed to improving his career and knowledge in the insurance industry.

Bermudian Amanda Pinto, an underwriter at XL Group, was pleased to receive the Bermuda Insurance Diploma.

"For me it was just a starting block of getting introduced to insurance and for me the studying is not going to stop there — I am going to go on to the CPCU," she said.

Fellow Bermudian Edward Peach, a private student, who also picked up the Bermuda Insurance Diploma, said it would help him to plan for the future.

Gavin Bishop, vice-president at Validus Re, attained his sixth designation to be proud of, this time in the Institute of America's Associate in Management.

"I was looking for something that would nurture my leadership skills," he said.

Dilawn Fox-Romaine, another Bermudian and an underwriter at Lancashire Insurance Group, was presented with the American Institute for CPCU's Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter award said it was the culmination of three long hard years of work.

"It was hard with a full-time job and two small children, but very much worth it — you just have to keep focused and keep the end goal in mind," she said.

Ms Orchard, who presented the guest speaker and was the master of ceremonies, said her role was to congratulate the students on their success and recognise their achievements.

"This is the one event of the year where we have all the different designations together in one place to recognise the good work that people have done," she said.

"The importance of the event is that for the last five years we have had record numbers of people successfully completing designations which goes to show the support our partners offer in helping to work towards attaining a higher level of education for the students."