Bermuda opens doors for captives

The 2022 Bermuda Captive Conference will be one of the biggest such events on the island this year, according to Grainne Richmond, director of the Bermuda Captive Network and executive vice-president - head of captives at Aon.

Richmond told Captive International that the last in-person conference held by the captive industry on Bermuda was in 2019, and was one of the most successful conferences in its 16-year history, with more than 800 attendees.

Unfortunately, as with everywhere else globally, Bermuda was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, although the island was able to find a way to make the 2020 conference happen.

“One of the good things [about that period] was that Bermuda was able to hold the conference virtually for 2020 and 2021,” said Richmond. “We were one of the few captive domiciles that was able to pivot like that and it was certainly appreciated, particularly by overseas people who could dial in.”

Coming out of the pandemic, Richmond said that the organisers of the conference thought hard about if they would go back to a full in-person conference or if the virtual option was the way forward.

“It's quite important to note that what we heard from other conferences being held, and this really holds true for Bermuda, is that nothing beats the in-person conference,” she pointed out. “Virtual does work and it’s good to have these virtual platforms, but what we're hearing from our clients and our stakeholders from overseas is they really wanted to get back to Bermuda and do that face-to-face networking.”

This year’s Bermuda Captive Conference will be a full in-person conference but there is also a hybrid option for some, so that people who cannot make it can dial in virtually and listen to some of the sessions.

According to Richmond, the conference organisers are aware that capacity is limited due to hotels closures, but the Hamilton Princess has worked very hard with the organisers to make sure that the event can accommodate as many as possible. It is currently limited to 400 people for the conference but, between in-person and virtual attendance, Richmond believes there will be around 600-650 people attending the conference in some manner.

“The message coming out of Bermuda is we need to get back to these in-person conferences and, more importantly, begin to get people back to Bermuda,” said Richmond.

She concluded: “If you haven't been to Bermuda before, it is a jurisdiction with a professional infrastructure, a world class airport, a ferry system and bus system, hotels and all the professional firms. We’re not a P.O. Box and it's really important that our stakeholders see that when they come in, especially people who have not been here before, such as some of our new captive owners and some new service providers.”