Bermudian-based reinsurers have been announcing record results for the 2023 fiscal year – but their focus is squarely on the future, panellists told attendees at the third annual Bermuda Risk Summit.

Kathleen Reardon, chief executive officer of Hiscox Re & ILS, said: “The whole industry needed this 2023 result, not only to build more confidence with our shareholders but also the employees and the clients that we have. They need to be here for the long run.”

Peter Bell, CEO and managing director of Everest Re, added: “One win doesn’t win the Premiership. Now we’ve just got to focus on 2024 – what we’re doing and how we’re going to do it.”

They were appearing on the panel “Putting Capital to Work: A View from the Top”, which also featured Mark Cloutier, executive chairman and group CEO of Aspen, and Paul Simons, CEO of Convex Re Ltd.

The panel was moderated by John Huff, CEO of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers.

Mr Cloutier said: “I think the opportunity that’s in front of us today, if we run our businesses well, is to use the current trading conditions to strengthen our balance sheets, and build greater sustainability and resiliency into our businesses.

“Once we have done that, we can actually get back to the business that we should be in all the time – but we are often not, because of some of the cyclical behaviour that we stumble into.”

Mr Cloutier said the industry in Bermuda could search for new ways to re-approach under-coverage and coverage-gap situations in areas such as wildfire.

“The wonderful herd mentality of our business is such that we are struggling now to understand what’s going on with secondary peril, severe convective storms.

“So, what do we do? We all run away from it, and we leave the consumer sort of under-covered there.

“If we’re healthy, if we have strong balance sheets, and we have capital that we can intelligently deploy, we should be able to go back into some of these lines and classes of business in a way that can solve the societal need while at the same time do it in a properly thought-out way.”

He added: “Another year or two at least of these kind of trading conditions, and these kind of results, should enable a lot more exploration and innovation forward, and I think that’s the real big opportunity.”

Panellists spoke about the importance and impact of building an appropriate culture in an organisation.

Mr Simons said: “Culture is key for us ... as a leader, to me that’s one of the things that you really have to get right.”

Mr Bell added: “If you want talent, you have to have the right culture. You’re not going to keep it unless you have the right culture.”

Mr Simons sounded a cautionary note for the jurisdiction as a whole.

“The one thing that we hear a lot from our customers, those people that come here to meet with us ... is around cost. We need to address that in some way.”

He added: “The ease of travel, the cost of accommodation, the availability of accommodation - all these things, I think we just have to make sure if we’re getting it right, we continue to get it right, and we can’t drop the ball.

“We need to compete more on those things than I think we ever have.”

The Bermuda Risk Summit continues Thursday and Friday at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.