Hiscox Bermuda CEO Charles Dupplin is to leave the Island in August.Mr Dupplin said he was stepping down for personal reasons and would take on a special projects role with Hiscox after a two-month sabbatical. His replacement is set to be announced at the end of July.He told The Royal Gazette that he was sad to be leaving after three-and-a-half years leading the company’s Bermuda reinsurance operation, which employs more than 40 people.“Bermuda is immensely friendly and very diverse,” said Mr Dupplin, who lives on the Island with his wife and four children. “Coming from Perth, in Scotland, which is not dissimilar in size, there is nothing like the amazing things happening there compared to what goes on here.“Despite some press comment, as a family we feel extremely safe here and we’ve never had any issues with that. This has been a very, very happy period for my family. I’ll still be on the board here and I look forward to coming back regularly.”Mr Dupplin, who is an art underwriter by trade has been a great supporter of the arts on the Island, is a member of Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society, as well as a backer of the Bermuda Festival and Masterworks.Hiscox Bermuda has expanded its business and its workforce during Mr Dupplin’s tenure and now fills more office space in its Wessex House base on Reid Street.Recently, it has been advertising for IT and compliance staff, the sort of jobs that some others in the Bermuda insurance market have been outsourcing.“There are two entry level jobs in IT and I’m confident we can fill those with Bermudians,” Mr Dupplin said. “On the compliance side, we have recruited one Bermudian and we’re looking for another.”So why is Hiscox not outsourcing such jobs like some others?“I think if you’re running a large entity, you can get depressed about the cost of employing someone in Bermuda,” Mr Dupplin said. “So if you have 15 people performing a function here, then it may make sense for that function to be performed in a cheaper location. If you are a smaller business, then the equation looks very different.“At the moment it’s a fact that for jobs like mid-level accountants, it’s much more expensive to employ people in Bermuda. That is something that needs to be talked about by the whole community.”He said that many firms would be prepared to pay a bit extra for the convenience of having people in house to deal with tasks, as opposed to having to deal staff located hundreds of miles away. However, he added there was a “tipping point” price beyond which the extra cost of having a function based in Bermuda would outweigh the benefits.He expects to see Hiscox’s operation here continuing to expand under his successor.“We’ve continued to make progress in a high-quality firm, which has been around for 111 years and we’ve been writing reinsurance here for about seven years,” he said.“It takes a long time to establish a reputation. The insurance business should never be about getting anywhere in a hurry — it’s about long-term relationships and steady incremental gains.“Last year was the ultimate test of nerve and I think we came through it pretty well. I think Hiscox can hold its head high in the Bermuda market. Our business is growing here. We’ve increased the amount of offices here and I think it will continue to get bigger.”New capital has been flowing into the industry in Bermuda, more in the form of collateralised vehicles like sidecars and catastrophe bonds than as new companies.“It’s a sign of evolution in the industry and I see it as a very exciting development,” he said. “There is real traction in these structures and they’re bringing new investors into the industry. The test of a good market is: Can you take a bit of evolution and still be top dog?”Bermuda, like London had done a good job of adapting to the changing market, he said, and the fact that the Island continued to attract the lion’s share of new incorporations of significant size.He felt the Island possessed the right core elements for its insurance market to continue to thrive.“Bermuda has a good court system, a deep talent pool and a good regulator,” he said. “In many places, it’s difficult to get two out of those three. As long as Bermuda keeps those three things, it will continue to do well.“From a tax point of view, with the changes that are taking place in the UK, there is not as much difference as there was, but Bermuda is still very competitive on the tax front.”