The Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies aims to raise more than $2 million next year to help fund its programmes.

The charity said its endowment fund at present stood at just under $5 million.

But David Souter, BFIS treasurer, said that the organisation’s finances were “in good order.”

But he added: “However, fundraising continues to be challenging and in order to remain sustainable the fund needs to increase to $7 million and the board will be working towards that goal in 2017.”

Mr Souter was speaking at the BFIS annual general meeting, which celebrated the organisation’s 20th birthday.

More than 100 insurance professionals with close links to the foundation, from founding member and industry veteran Brian O’Hara to this year’s graduates who are just starting their careers, attended a lunch held after the meeting.

Gail Martin, chairman of BFIS, said that it had moved into a bigger office, which allowed the foundation to expand its programmes offering Bermudian students get the education needed to enter the industry.

Ms Martin added: “Although BFIS is noted for its scholarships, it does so much more — spending time in our senior schools, both public and private, giving career guidance presentations, helping students understand more about insurance and careers in the industry, organising several networking events every year for both high school and college students, arranging one-on-one mentoring, running summer internships for college students, another highly successful programme, and giving job search assistance benefiting hundreds of Bermudians.”

Mr O’Hara said that industry guru Brian Hall, a founder and trustee of BFIS, had galvanised support for its establishment in 1996.

He added that he was pleased that the organisation had grown to become a major contributor to the island’s insurance market.