For decades Bermuda stood out for its iconic booths at strategic locations in the exhibit hall at the annual Rims RiskWorld conference.

Occupying substantial, and prime, real estate on the exhibit floor, for many years the Bermuda exhibit was represented by a distinctive model of a Bermuda cottage.

It was always a central location for risk professionals to meet Bermuda executives — a virtual landmark in a crowded exhibition hall.

But at Riskworld 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, the official Bermuda delegation has no booth, at all.

Helen Souza, business development manager at the Bermuda Business Development Agency, said: “We focused instead on our cocktail reception.”

The annual Tuesday evening Bermuda cocktail party was scheduled for the Wild Leap Brewery on Ted Turner Drive in Atlanta.

Hundreds normally attend, and this year they were joining David Burt, the Premier, and Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour.

“We look forward to welcoming prospective Bermuda market entrants with our famous BDA bags, enjoying their company over Gosling’s cocktails and Bermuda entertainment,” a BDA spokesman said early in the day.

Meanwhile, David Hart, chief executive of the BDA, and John Huff, president and CEO of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, said they wandered the conference hall chatting with different people.

“We are promoting Bermuda’s flagship financial events, the Bermuda Risk Summit, the International Tech Summit and the Bermuda Climate Summit 2023, coming up at the end of June,” Mr Hart said.

During the Bermuda Risk Summit in March, the BDA nearly doubled the number of overseas visitors compared with the previous, inaugural year.

“We will continue to put a focus on attracting people in the risk space to our climate event to showcase our strength as the risk capital of the world,” he said.

He said he had a message for people at Riskworld.

“Bermuda created captives 60 years ago, and Bermuda perfected captives,” Mr Hart said. “Being at this conference, makes it clear that Bermuda continues to lead the pack as first choice.”

“Over the years this conference has been critically important in building relationships for Bermuda,” Mr Hayward said. “It allows Bermuda an opportunity to connect with our current partners, but also leverage those resources to create new partnerships in areas we are trying to grow and expand the economy.”

He said a number of companies are considering domiciling in Bermuda or placing capital in Bermuda, so it is important for his team to share the local value proposition, and answer critical questions.

Tuesday the Bermuda team attended a breakfast round table event with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Hayward said they were able to highlight key areas of Bermuda’s economic development strategy. They also discussed points where Georgia’s and Bermuda’s focus aligned, such as in human capital development, and business diversification.

The chamber meeting was also attended by important stakeholders such as Delta Air Lines, State Farm and Coca-Cola, which all have their captives in Bermuda.

Mr Huff said: “Georgia is a significant state for the Bermuda market. Our member companies have approximately 1,700 employees in Georgia.”

RiskWorld may be the most significant overseas event in captive and insurance management attended by the Bermuda market.

It has been estimated that as many as 70 to 100 executives from Bermuda could either attend or be in the exhibit city for related meetings.

There are many Bermuda organisations represented at the conference including reinsurers, captive management companies, law firms, accountancy houses and banks.

Over 10,000 risk industry professionals were expected at the three-day event which ends Wednesday.