They say travel broadens the mind — and that is certainly the case with Adam Farrell. For the young Bermudian globetrotter has travelled the world, from London, Spain and Switzerland to Ghana, Africa and even such exotic locations as Morocco, Hungary and the Caribbean.

But for now he is just happy to be settled back in his homeland doing the job he loves most — working in the cutting edge world of insurance with AIG Cat Excess Liability.

Born and bred on the Island, Mr. Farrell went to school at Saltus Grammar School, before moving to England to continue his studies at Uppingham School in Leicestershire.

From there he took an action-packed GAP year, which included everything from learning to sail as a crew member on board Tall Ship Astrid in the Caribbean to achieving a Cordon Bleu cookery certificate at Tante Marie in Woking, Surrey and even answering the phone at international accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCooper's, as well as holding up priceless works of art at world famous auctioneer house Christie's in London.

Mr. Farrell then joined Durham University to read English and Philosophy, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree, before taking another GAP year, travelling to Ghana to work for an advertising agency and teach English to schoolchildren.

The rest of the year was spent helping run hot-air balloon tours for rich American tourists at Chateau d'Oeux in the Swiss Alps and teaming up with the crew of German C class racing schooner, Esprit, on the Cadiz, Spain to Bermuda leg of the Tall Ships Race 2000, before resuming his studies to attain a postgraduate degree in advertising at West Herts College, University of Hertfordshire in Watford.

He takes up the story in his own words from that initial interest in getting into business and the advertising and marketing sector.

"Basically, when I came out of college, I did a fairly general degree in English and Philosophy because I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do," he said.

"It was something that I enjoy and thought I could do while I was keeping my options open at that stage.

"But I previously had an insight into advertising in Bermuda at Saltus and I found it really interesting and a few of my friends were applying to do courses in it at college, so I thought it would be something interesting to do.

"Then I went to Africa and there was a chance to do some work in advertising in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and when I came back to England I applied to join West Herts College in Watford and did the course for a year and then I entered the graduate recruitment programme in one of the top London advertising agencies called Lowe Live.

"They took me and a few other graduates on to do direct marketing, which is a more personable contact with the clients, and it was quite cutting edge at the time.

"But the studying didn't stop there, so I went to Imperial College in London to get qualified, and that took a year to achieve.

"I was looking for other options and then this opportunity came up with another agency and that is when I left the direct marketing world and went over to travel marketing, and the agency I joined was named Hills Balfour."

But after reaching the post of senior account executive and a year working for Hill Balfour, the Department of Tourism's UK marketing agency, Mr. Farrell decided to return to Bermuda to find out what career opportunities lay in his homeland.

"I wanted to settle down in Bermuda and look at the opportunities to work here and when I arrived my first thought was to go to the Bank of Bermuda and work for their corporate communications department, but that was more on the client side of things and I didn't enjoy it as much — it was not as dynamic as what I had been doing in London," he said.

That is when he first came up with the idea of going into insurance, considering the Island's reputation as the world's risk capital following the establishment of a number of companies in the wake of the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a string of other devastating natural disasters since.

"I had been thinking about insurance and, in terms of career, I think that it had more opportunities for me than marketing on the Island, so I talked to a lot of people and friends in insurance and thought about going into the underwriting or brokering side of it. But, although, brokering seemed to be the obvious choice considering my background, I found out that I am more analytical and more of a thinker, so I blitzed a lot of places with my CV and got a couple of opportunities, mainly through friends forwarding them to people they knew." It was at that point about two years ago, Mr. Farrell chanced upon AIG Cat Excess Liability, who offered him a job as an underwriting assistant working on excess liability and where he has been working ever since. And he has never looked back, being promoted to assistant underwriter in December last year.

"They are a brilliant company to work for — I was given the opportunity for a lot of training and that is excellent and is part of the reason why I went with them," he said.

"Now, I do everything from attending group meetings with CEOs to being given my own business to write, so it is very empowering. We are trying to get Bermudians involved in the business and I have been overseas to conferences, as well doing some of the industry training sessions."

And he reckons one of the best things about working in the insurance industry is the sheer variety of people with different backgrounds, interests and stories to tell you come across from day to day.

"But the most interesting thing that I learned when I went to this meeting of professional individuals in the industry was that none of them had done an insurance-related qualification at university and all of them came from different backgrounds," he said.

"As a result it was a very interesting mix of people, but, above all, it just goes to show that a lot of Bermudians may go into college and university and think about going into insurance when they finish, but to be honest, a lot of companies will recruit you if you have a degree in any subject that shows you have a brain and can think for yourself and produces a more rounded individual.

"That is what I have found in some of the recruitment possibilities here."

Mr. Farrell underwrites financial lines such as directors and officers, employers' liability and errors and omissions policies and he gets a real buzz out of keeping one step ahead of the game in the ever-changing and diverse field of current affairs and legislation.

"With financial lines it is based on litigation trends and current changes in legislation and it is about keeping abreast of current affairs, especially in the US regulatory market," he said.

"You are looking at directors and the like, seeing whether they are doing the right things, as it is a very arbitrary business — it is never black and white. I still have to look at where the exposures are coming from and it takes a good instinct to know whether companies are risky or not."

His job has taken him to Morocco, Hungary and the Caribbean in the past year alone and he hopes to take advantage of further opportunities to see more of the world that come his way.

"There are lots of opportunities opening up in the Far East and the emerging markets and companies over there are looking for more insurance cover, so I think there are travel opportunities, especially with AIG Cat Excess Liability," he said. "But in terms of my own travel, I certainly want to do a lot more."

For now though life is good for Mr. Farrell, who recently achieved his RPLU (Registered Professional Liability Underwriter) insurance industry designation, although he plans to become fully qualified in underwriting and take things from there.

"At the moment I would like to become a fully-fledged underwriter in Bermuda and see where that takes me," he said.

"There are a lot of opportunities out there and Bermuda is a great place to take advantage of them — I know that if I was still in London in the same job as a underwriting assistant, I would not have the same opportunities I have here."

Since Mr. Farrell moved back to the Island he has found time to take up a lot of activities he always wanted to do, such as playing rugby with the Bermuda Police rugby club, attaining his diving certification and he has even bought his own boat.