Bermuda-based specialist reinsurer Hiscox is hoping to benefit from clients fleeing from American International Group's (AIG) financial troubles.

Hiscox CEO Bronek Masojada told BestWeek Europe, that the Lloyd's insurer has picked up a number of clients already and continues to field calls from concerned AIG customers.

"At the moment, there's an uptick in inquiries, but I think we'd really see a pattern beginning to emerge at the end of October or November when hopefully, the financial market turmoil settles down and AIG's direction becomes clearer," Mr. Masojada said.

Mr. Masojada suggested many of AIG's major clients may not make moves until the January 1 renewal season, however, as traditionally the last three months of the year are slow in insurance.

Hiscox seems to be benefiting from its long-time conservative investment strategies, Mr. Masojada added.

"We've always focused on investing our assets in boring, safe assets. In the past, we've been criticised for that and at the moment that's clearly turned out to be a good thing to do," he told BestWeek.

The company stayed away from highly risky investment products such as those that brought AIG to the brink of bankruptcy, only to be rescued by a $85 billion loan from the US Federal Reserve. AIG has since announced it will access another $38 billion from the Fed.

Hiscox also spent the past two years reducing the amount of leverage in the company, BestWeek said. "So, we're really quite conservatively financed at this time," Mr. Masojada said.

A recent survey of risk managers conducted by industry analysts Advisen found a high level of confidence in AIG — 68 percent reported they were very or somewhat confident in its financial strength.

The survey also found, however, that 71 percent of AIG policyholders would get quotes from the company's competitors at renewal time.

"Obviously, we want to be able to present Hiscox as a financially strong and attractive alternative in specialist areas, whether that be technology, errors and omission [E&O], media E&O, kidnap and ransom, small-ticket miscellaneous E&O here in the US," Mr. Masojada told BestWeek. "We hope customers would see Hiscox as a financially strong alternative if they're currently with AIG."

AIG employs over 200 people in its Bermuda operations.