Brian O’Hara joins Bermuda summit line-up

Former chairman and chief executive of XL Group, Brian O’Hara and Renaissance Re head, Neill Currie will deliver keynote speeches at this year’s Insurance Day Summit Bermuda, which will be held on the island in June.

O’Hara, who at the end of last year saw XL’s flagship Bermuda headquarters renamed Brian O’Hara House in honour of his long contribution to the company, will speak on the second day of the conference, while Currie, who co-founded island institution Renaissance Re in 1993 will open proceedings on the first day of the summit on June 12.

In his presentation O’Hara, who was chief executive of XL for 14 years before stepping down in 2008, will discuss future growth and development in the Bermudian market in the light of changes in diversification strategies and holding company domiciles. More details of Currie’s keynote speech will be announced shortly.

Summit delegates will be eagerly anticipating hearing O’Hara’s thoughts on the future of a market he served for so long.

After joining XL at its inception in 1986, the company’s first employee was instrumental in growing the carrier into the multi-line, global carrier, boasting shareholder’s equity in excess of $10bn that it is today, subsequently putting Bermuda on the reinsurance map in the process.

Although O’Hara’s time at the franchise ended in the same year as the carrier posted a record $2.6bn loss, driven by its exposure to bond insurer Syncora, the company’s lead director, Robert Glauber said at the time: “We would all do well to remember that without Brian this franchise simply would not exist”.

O’Hara and Currie will join a host of other chief executives, participating in the two day summit, which takes place at the prestigious Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel in Bermuda.

Industry luminaries such as Endurance chief executive, David Cash, Hiscox Bermuda boss, Charles Dupplin, chief executive of Alterra Capital, Marty Becker, former Bermuda Monetary Authority chief executive, now deputy governor at the Central Bank of Ireland, Matthew Elderfield, Axis chairman Michael Butt and new Ironshore board member, Dennis Mahoney will be among those offering their views on a number of diverse topics expected to feature on the agenda.

These include such issues as an examination of how the US federal advisory committee on insurance will work and its anticipated impact on Bermuda and other markets; what the fall-out from the Eurozone crisis means for the island’s carriers, the evolution of enterprise risk management and risk capital; whether rival jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands; which has recently unveiled a range of incentives designed to attract reinsurance capital, pose a legitimate threat to the island; and addressing the rise of supply chain risk.

The Bermuda event will once again be chaired by experienced summiteers, the president of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, Brad Kading, and the president of the Reinsurance Association of America, Franklin Nutter.

Programme details and a host of new additions will be announced in due course. For more information visit www.insurancedaysummit.com/bermuda.

If you would like to be involved in the 2012 event or for further information, contact +44 (0)20 7017 4070 or idsummitbermuda@informa.com.