Upstart jurisdictions hoping to draw international business away from Bermuda can expect a tough fight, industry groups said this week.

The British Crown dependency of Guernsey is the latest to set its sights on Bermuda's reinsurance market and will next month host a seminar in London entitled "Destination Reinsurance: Guernsey — An Alternative to Bermuda".

Set for November 11, according to Guernsey Finance, the programme has been designed "to appeal to personnel involved in the decision-making process for the (re)location of reinsurance operations".

Among the speakers will be the director general of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and executives from Hiscox (which has operations in Bermuda, Guernsey and the US), KPMG and JLT Insurance Management.

"Over the years Bermuda has been the benchmark jurisdiction in terms of having the right package in place to attract reinsurance operations," Guernsey Finance quotes Nick Wild, executive chairman (ex Americas) of JLT Insurance Management as saying. "However, what we are now seeing is that this success is putting pressure on resources and consequently driving up operating costs. It is in this context that there is more of a focus on the other potential options available. Guernsey is emerging as an increasingly competitive domicile for reinsurance operations, either as a European base or a direct alternative to Bermuda but why this is and the extent of our progress is something that we will look at more closely on the day."

Bermuda should not be surprised to see other jurisdictions hungry to steal its business, Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers president Bradley Kading said.

"Bermuda has a leadership role to maintain as an international insurer domicile," he said. "What distinguishes Bermuda is its large number of international headquarters, not just companies with underwriting operations. Lots of competitors are trying to wrestle that crown from Bermuda."

But Cheryl Packwood, CEO of the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA), said Guernsey may be overly ambitious. "Guernsey is paying Bermuda the ultimate compliment when it says that Bermuda has been the jurisdiction of choice for the insurance and reinsurance industry, but what it misses is that you cannot simply put out a shingle and say to people in these challenging financial times that our jurisdiction wants to enter the insurance or reinsurance business," she said.

"These are complicated and challenging times, which require significant expertise, capital and a sound and proven regulatory and legal environment. These are all things that Bermuda has that Guernsey does not. To assert that resources and operating costs in Bermuda are somehow strained is unfounded and unproven."

To keep the wolves from the door, both Mr. Kading and Ms Packwood said Bermuda should focus on its strengths — highlighting its proximity to the United States market, proven track record, relationship with the UK, pool of accountants, actuaries and insurance executives and its supportive relationship with the Government.

Ms Packwood said Bermuda continues to market itself aggressively with events like those BIBA hosted in New York and Chicago last week for industry players. Response to these was very positive, she said, and another event is planned for Geneva on November 10. "We are taking the message to our clients and potential clients and telling them that we want their business and have all the attributes of a top notch jurisdiction. In times like these, this is the best approach to ensure our continued growth and success," she said. "We need to be consistent and remind long time customers why they do business in Bermuda and why they've been successful."

Bermuda's development as a domicile far exceeds its rival, she added: "Bermuda has capital, expertise and a proven regulatory and legal framework, which Guernsey does not have. For them to build this up takes many years."

She said it is unclear how much of a viable alternative Guernsey could really offer reinsurers. "They make the claim about cost and resources, but there is nothing that would suggest that those two factors would be good reasons not to do business in Bermuda, particularly when almost every new, innovative and successful insurance and reinsurance product that has been created in recent history has been created in Bermuda," she said.

Guernsey is located in the English Channel, 30 miles from the French coast and 70 miles from England. It has a population of 61,811, a workforce of 31,664 employees and GDP per capita of £24,946 ($46,588).