Dan Soares’ career actually began in the Island’s hotel industry after he earned a degree from the Bermuda College Stonington campus.It wasn’t until the early 1990s that the veteran Bermudian re/insurance executive changed course completely; he was lured from hospitality to the high-powered world of risk management. Mr Soares went on to fill senior roles at Montpelier Re and Mutual Risk Management before joining the Lancashire Group.Later this year, Mr Soares steps down as CEO of Lancashire Insurance Company, and will move to a non-executive role as chairman on the LICL Board of Directors.Looking back on his successful re/insurance career, Mr Soares said he felt fortunate as a Bermudian to have the opportunity to join an international industry that’s “right on our doorstep”.“It wasn’t until 1991 when I came to a decision that Bermuda’s international business was the side of the bread the butter was on here in Bermuda and pursued a professional accounting designation starting my career in insurance and reinsurance,” Mr Soares told The Royal Gazette.“I must say I have been very fortunate to work with some of the best insurance and reinsurance people in the world. We are so incredibly fortunate to have very talented insurance and reinsurance professionals right on our doorstep and so I took full advantage of every opportunity I had in learning the craft and built on contributing to the success of each company I have had the good fortune of working with.”His advice for a young Bermudian looking to pursue a career in re/insurance in a challenging global economy, is to perform at — and higher than — the global standard.“The formula for a successful career in any industry for me is the same — discover what you are naturally good at and apply that to what interests you — then educate yourself to the fullest extent in that field,” Mr Soares said.“The international businesses we host here in Bermuda operate within the global marketplace and so our young people will need to meet that global standard in order to compete for those jobs and not just a Bermuda standard. You need to perform a level as good as or better than the entry level underwriting assistant or claims analyst in offices in London and Singapore. Jobs are far more portable than they used to be and the insurance and reinsurance sector is no different.”He added: “I had the good fortune in May to host in our boardroom a number of students from Sandys Middle School as part of the Sandys 360 Scholar, Arts, Athletics and Leadership Academy and have a cross section of my senior staff present their path to successful careers in the industry. It was a big success on a number of levels and I hope to do much more of these events. Bridging that gap between these young men and what is possible in a career in international business here in Bermuda is critical in my view.