Twelve students from Bermuda are gaining overseas experience with insurers and reinsurers and industry-related companies in the US and UK.

They are part of an intern group programme with the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies, which sends students overseas to learn about insurance in other markets.

More than 50 insurance and industry-related companies will be hosting this year’s interns for meetings, presentations and work-shadowing during the three BFIS overseas ‘Intro-to-insurance’ programmes.

Four Bermudian undergraduates flew off to London last weekend and eight more head out this weekend to Atlanta and Chicago.

Cathy Lapsley, BFIS executive director, said: “This is the twelfth year we have been able to offer students the opportunity to learn all they can about the insurance business in overseas markets; Chicago started in 2006, London in 2008 and Atlanta in 2012.

“We have found that these two short weeks can make an immeasurable difference to the students and help them to clearly focus on the direction their career will take. The number of students who have participated in the BFIS intern programmes totals 145, with almost all of those who have graduated now working in the insurance sector.”

“It takes a lot of organisation and planning to co-ordinate these programmes and BFIS appreciates the help we get from the Katie School of Insurance and Finance alumni with the Chicago programme; and in Atlanta from former BFIS president Mark Lima of Arch, and from Georgia State University.

“Of course we could not run these programmes without the wonderful support of the many companies and their staff, many having hosted our interns every year since the overseas programmes started.”

BFIS trustees Terry Pimentel and J.P. Dyer met with the interns at their briefing lunches and emphasised the need to research both the companies and the people they would be meeting, and three of the 2016 interns, Tatyana Butterfield, Tyler Kerr and Julia Judd were also on hand to answer questions about what to expect and how to make the most of this opportunity.

A presentation by all the 2017 intern groups will take place at lunchtime on July 31 at KPMG.

Students interested in applying for the 2017 programmes are welcome to attend and should e-mail BFIS at info@bfis.bm.

The interns at the three cities are:

Atlanta: Jasmine Dawson (classics/Winchester), Elizabeth Froud (psychology and HR/St. Mary’s), Niambi Landy-Philpott (math and statistics/Acadia), Carmela Robinson (risk management and insurance/Temple).

Chicago: Tracey DeSouza (accounting/Georgia State), Anthony Howell (political science/New Jersey City), Sihle Paynter (global management/Ryerson), Kayla Virgil-Darrell (actuarial Science/St. John’s)

London: Chris Alexander (accounting and finance/Bristol), Conor Lohan (economics/McGill), Evan Watkins (business management and marketing/Stirling), Dominick Wright (insurance and risk management/Wharton).