Those who seize opportunities to build up a track record of work experience — especially with different companies and sampling various departments — can gain an edge when they enter the competitive job market.

That’s the message from the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies, an organisation founded by insurance industry leaders in 1996 with the goal of creating opportunities for Bermudian students to gain the education and training necessary to enter the insurance sector.

Victoria Cunningham, executive director of BFIS, said students who spent their summers in internships would gain “the experience to back up what they learnt in the classroom”.

She encouraged all students who see their future in insurance to seek out internship opportunities. “We’ve seen some students who take up lifeguarding for the summer, or work on the tour boats. That’s great for the summer after you graduate high school and maybe your first university summer, but then you’ve got to start knuckling down.

“If you want to be on the same playing field, or higher than your peers coming into the industry, you need to have done at least one, if not two internships in the field to help you get that job.

“It’s not just about gaining experience and building a network, it also helps you to work out whether this is something you actually want to do. Do you like the company? Do you like the job? It’s your fact-finding mission.”

Vital experience

Students should also embrace scholarships that include an internship as a requirement, Ms Cunningham added.

“Some young people say, ‘I don’t want to have to do that.’ But they don’t realise the value that is there, because a) the internship is automatic, so they don’t have to apply for anything; and b) it’s giving them vital experience that they don’t need to get from somewhere else.”

Some students return to the same company each summer as interns, building their relationship with that employer. However, stints with different companies could be more valuable in finding the role that suits them best.

“Getting that varied experience puts them out of their comfort zone,” said Bonnie Exell, BFIS administrator. “Moving around and experiencing different roles and companies could help build their confidence and resilience when it comes to the realities of the employment marketplace.

“All of these support programmes are giving students the opportunity to practise being in a in a work environment and to learn to be a better professional, and everything that involves, from what you wear to how you behave.”

BFIS acts a bridge between young people aiming to work in insurance and the industry itself. It offers scholarships, mentorship, networking and career guidance.

It also offers the BFIS “Intro to Insurance” internship, which gives participants a broad view of the industry in different markets and at multiple companies. It takes students on an intensive three-week tour of the Bermuda market, and two weeks exploring the insurance world in either London or Chicago.

Students often visit two insurance companies a day, and also visit brokers, financial regulator the Bermuda Regulatory Authority, and law firms in Bermuda. In London, the intern visits begin with a visit to Lloyd’s of London. Such access provides students with a broad and international perspective of the industry.

High success rate

BFIS is currently supporting 32 scholars — 13 of whom received BFIS scholarships and the remainder supported by individual companies. The BFIS scholars get preference for the sought-after internship places.

In the BFIS office on Cedar Avenue, Hamilton, rows of framed photographs of dozens of BFIS scholars adorn the walls, reflecting the organisation’s significant beneficial impact on Bermuda’s youth over many years.

“We describe our success rate as 94 per cent, meaning that of the 297 BFIS scholars to date, 94 per cent are currently working in the insurance industry — many in Bermuda, but some elsewhere in the world, including Atlanta, London, Dubai, Sydney and Toronto,” Ms Exell said.

She attributed this remarkable effectiveness in launching students into insurance careers to the BFIS programme’s “scaffolding” — the multifaceted support afforded to students that prepares them for life in the industry.

Ms Cunningham explained: “We have the network to be able to provide these students with a mentor, internship opportunities, support through university, and post graduation to seamlessly succeed in the industry.

“BFIS has an enormous network of about 650 mentors, many of whom are alumni. And we have access to others in the industry, and the students will then draw on their expertise.”

Ms Cunningham, who took the helm at BFIS 18 months ago and is also an adjunct insurance lecturer at Bermuda College, worked in the insurance industry for 22 years, in analyst and underwriting roles, and served as a BFIS mentor herself.

“It’s really important for scholars to fully understand the benefits of a mentor,” Ms Cunningham said. “Even with an internship, many companies give them a buddy or an internal mentor.

“It’s not just a relationship for a summer, or one or two years. If you keep moulding it, it will just grow. And you can have more than one mentor. These are the additional benefits of scholarships and internships that don’t have a price tag on them, but are monumental in terms of the impact on your success.”

BFIS has a Schools Outreach Committee, comprised of alumni who attended each of Bermuda’s high schools. Their interaction with students includes areas such as careers in insurance, applying for scholarships and resume writing.

Two speed networking events per year also give students and scholars the chance of time with industry professionals.

Ms Cunningham and Ms Exell encouraged any student interested in entering the insurance industry to reach out to BFIS at [email protected] or by calling 295-1266.

The post Gaining an edge in the insurance job market appeared first on RG Magazines.

That is the key message of the campaign of the same name run annually by the Association of Bermuda International Companies, in conjunction with the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers, and the Bermuda Business Development Association.

Adding substance to that concept is the Abic Career Shifters Scholarship, an educational award designed to help those already established in a career gain the education or professional designations needed to pivot into IB and thrive.

Unlike traditional scholarships aimed at school leavers, the Career Shifters Scholarship recognises the value of real-world experience and supports adults ready for a professional change.

This scholarship was launched in 2025 as a new feature of the campaign, adding to the Abic Education Awards, the island’s largest and longest-running private-sector scholarship programme, with a history stretching back nearly 50 years.

Providing a grant of $5,000 to career shifters looking to upgrade their skills, the scholarship helps recipients to gain industry-recognised designations through organisations such as The Institutes, an international educational organisation focused on the insurance industry, and other accredited professional bodies, or take courses either in person or online through the Bermuda College or overseas universities.

Having generated a strong response last year, two awards are on offer for 2026, as part of the “International business is everybody’s business” campaign. The new sponsor of the 2026 campaign and the associated scholarships is Lombard Odier, a Swiss private bank specialising in wealth and asset management.

International business is everyone’s business

Wayne Smith, Abic’s executive director, said Lombard Odier, which is celebrating 50 years in Bermuda, epitomised the symbiotic relationship between IB and the island. The company has contributed to the island’s gross domestic product for decades, he added, and has employed and promoted many Bermudians.

“We wanted to do something more substantial for the ‘International business is everybody’s business’ campaign in 2025, and the Abic Marketing Committee proposed a scholarship for career shifters,” said Mr Smith, giving credit to the committee’s chairwoman, Zina Edwards, the director of corporate communications and stakeholder relations for the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

The scholarship is deliberately designed to be accessible to mid-career professionals. To be eligible to apply for the Career Shifters Scholarship, applicants must be Bermudian or Permanent Resident’s Certificate holder, or eligible to acquire one, between the ages of 25 and 65, and must be accepted by a school or professional education organisation by the time of the interview. The award is based on financial need.

While many people working in different fields may not think there would be a place for their skill sets in international business, the breadth of IB jobs requires a range of capabilities.

Beyond underwriters, accountants and corporate lawyers, international companies employ professionals in IT, data analysis, engineering, marketing and communications, human resources, facilities management, administration and catering, among many others. From this perspective, it is clear that a wide range of skills and knowledge is transferable into IB. 

Malinda Jennings, Abic’s scholarship and executive administrator, said that among the 14 applicants for last year’s Career Shifters Scholarship were a nurse, a construction worker, a musician, teachers, single parents who wanted to upskill, and someone who missed out on going to university and wanted to study law.

“The average age of applicants last year was about 30, so we are dealing with mature adults,” Ms Jennings said. “While we look at their transcript, we don’t put too much weight on it. More important are the references from employers that attest to their character, and when they tell us why they want to do this and how they see it happening.

“We are very strategic when we’re interviewing them — we look at where they have come from and how these skills can be transferable. We found that most of them came with a plan already. They were very sure as to what their journey was going to look like before they even applied for the scholarship.”

Powerful stories

The career focus that comes with several years of experience in the world of work was evident. 

“The stories we heard from the 2025 applicants were powerful, and they were clearly serious about pursuing their goals and dreams,” Ms Jennings said. “There was no fluff about any of them, no fly-by-night applications. They were very determined, and it was very difficult to pick from that cohort, because everyone was so well presented.”

Mr Smith is aware of many career-shifter success stories. He cited one person who was working in hospitality and moved into an international insurance company’s catering and facilities division, which today he heads. Others have moved from being receptionists at hotels to customer service at an international company.

Mr Smith gave another potential example: “Someone who has a construction background – experience in project management, maintenance, masonry, carpentry, or plumbing, for example – could end up as a facilities manager for an international company.”

Like all of the Abic Education Awards, the Career Shifters Scholarship comes with a mentor, a professional from an Abic member company, assigned to the recipient to help them make progress towards their goals. Often these mentor relationships extend beyond the time of the scholarship.

Mr Smith highlighted another key factor influencing the chances of achieving employment in the desired field: “I always tell people that the three secrets of getting a job in IB Bermuda are networking, networking, and networking.”

The Career Shifters Scholarship, he added, is designed to give recipients both the qualifications and the connections to make that transition possible.

• Applications for the Abic Career Shifters Scholarship can be made at bermudascholarships.com. The deadline is April 9, 2026.

The post Helping career shifters appeared first on RG Magazines.

Ms Oliveira recalled: “He said to me, ‘I don’t think a woman should be CEO and be a mother at the same time.’ I’m thankful for that comment, because it definitely lit a fire.”

At the time, the man in question was vying with her for a role that she successfully landed. It was not the first time Ms Oliveira had encountered this type of bias during her career in the male-dominated world of reinsurance.

But the attempted put-down served only to double her determination to succeed.

After 13 years as chief executive of Wilton Re Bermuda, while also raising two children, Ms Oliveira’s record speaks for itself.

Her tenure has brought significant growth at Wilton Re Bermuda, one of the earliest established of Bermuda’s new wave of life reinsurers. The parent company was founded in 2004 and is owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the investment arm of one the largest pension funds in the world. Today the Bermuda company has a balance sheet of more than $20 billion.

As she looks back at more than 30 years in insurance, Ms Oliveira can see clearly the important elements that helped her to succeed in business as a woman — including a solid base of technical expertise, the development of strong communication and leadership skills, mentors and supporters, networking (especially with other women) in the industry, and a supportive partner.

“I’ve been lucky to have had some incredible male mentors and allies, people who made me feel heard and judged me on my merits and my work, and that was key for me,” Ms Oliveira said. 

“But I’ve also had the flip side where I’ve been judged differently as a woman, in either overt or subtle ways.

“I’ve learned over the years to gravitate towards people who are allies and avoid the negative-energy people.”

Climbing the ladder

Ms Oliveira grew up in Connecticut and studied mathematics and economics. To become a qualified actuary takes an average of seven to ten years, with the support of an employer through the series of exams. In Ms Oliveira’s case, that employer was US life insurer John Hancock in Boston.

After she moved to Bermuda as a life actuary in 1999, she added the chartered financial analyst designation to her professional qualifications, further strengthening her credibility on the intersection of life insurance risk and investments.

“Building that base level of technical expertise is so important — perhaps especially for women — to establish credibility and to get your foot in the door,” Ms Oliveira said.

Moving up the ranks and managing a team requires different skills and a broader perspective than she had as an actuary focused on the numbers.

“I’m a very technical person, but moving into a leadership role meant lifting my head out of the spreadsheets and seeing the bigger picture, how the business works and how decisions are made,” she said.

“I put my hand up for projects and worked a lot of hours, and I also deliberately worked on my softer skills — how to motivate and influence people, and good communication.

“What actuaries do is complex and nerdy, a lot of numbers and formulas. Being able to distil that into a simplified format to present to management and peers is really important, so that people really understand what we’re doing.”

Ms Oliviera said she benefited greatly from guidance that helped her advance into a managerial role while working for ACE, now Chubb.

“I wasn’t part of a formal management programme at ACE, but a couple of targeted coaching sessions helped me make that shift,” she added.

Multiple surveys have shown that parenthood takes a disproportionate toll on women’s careers, reflecting the societal expectations that mothers carry the bulk of the parental load. 

Ms Oliveira remembers the early years of motherhood as “an intense period, coinciding with the global financial crisis and demanding professional responsibilities”.

She added: “I was working crazy hours, I had a newborn and a lot of responsibility at work, but I did what needed to be done.” 

Vital support

Ms Oliveira has heard the stories of how other female high fliers have managed to balance family and career, when attending the several professional women’s groups she belongs to.  

“Some women have a supportive, stay-at-home husband; some women have a power husband and a full-time live-in nanny; sometimes their mother lives with them,” she said.

“Accepting help was the common theme that I heard, and I adopted that advice. Having some kind of support is really important.”

Groups such as Women in Reinsurance, which last year presented Ms Oliveira with its Woman of the Year Award, provide an important platform for leadership development and networking. 

“I think women tend to learn from each other, and creating opportunities for these conversations is essential,” she said.

“There’s always a great turnout and I meet amazing people at every WiRe event.”

She also suggested that a recent influx of female executives could have something to do with the island’s unique environment.

“This is my own theory, but I think the safety of Bermuda, relative to other jurisdictions, the ease of getting around and the beauty of the place create an environment that many female leaders find attractive,” she said.

Outside work, Ms Oliveira has found multiple interests. She plays violin with the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra, serves as president of the Bermuda chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, an international culinary society, serves as president of Actuaries of Bermuda, a professional community and networking group, and is a board member of the asthma charity Open Airways.

“These groups all bring people together,” Ms Oliveira said. “That’s part of what I really love about Bermuda – a special sense of community that you don’t find in other places.”

The post When bias meets determination appeared first on RG Magazines.

Since the Digital Asset Business Act (DABA) came into force in 2018, Bermuda has built a reputation as one of the first jurisdictions with a dedicated, comprehensive regime for digital-asset businesses, covering exchanges, custodians, token issuers and related services under a single framework. 

By the end of 2024, 50 firms held active licences for digital assets and insurance innovation, a 60 per cent increase over the prior year. In the first quarter of 2025, that total rose to 53 licensed entities, including 39 digital-asset companies and 14 innovative insurers. 

Bermuda is leveraging its longstanding strength in re/insurance to carve out a niche where digital assets and risk transfer intersect. 

For example, Bermuda-regulated Members Capital has launched a tokenised insurance-linked securities fund on a digital-asset exchange, while also rolling out ILS funds that can accept stablecoins as investor capital. 

And Bermudian-based Meanwhile, the first the first licensed long-term insurer to denominate premiums, policy values and claims entirely in bitcoin, announced in October that it had raised $82 million from major institutional investors, reflecting confidence in its business.

  Such developments support Bermuda’s reputation as a centre of insurance innovation. 

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has launched a discussion paper on asset tokenisation, seeking input from stakeholders on the opportunities, challenges and regulatory considerations of tokenisation, not only in insurance, but also in areas including investment funds, real estate, precious metals and environmental markets.

However, the global competitive landscape is shifting. In Washington, the tone toward digital assets has softened markedly in 2025. An executive order on “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology” directed US agencies to develop coherent frameworks for digital assets, tokenisation and real-time payments as part of a broader fintech strategy. 

At the same time, the US Congress has advanced bipartisan legislation, including the Genius Act, aimed at providing federal-level clarity for core parts of the digital-asset market.

Commentators at the financial innovation firm WisdomTree have branded 2025 “the year clarity came to crypto”, arguing that US, UK and EU policymakers are converging on scalable rules after years of fragmented enforcement.

 For the global industry, a more predictable US regime is likely to be net positive, increasing institutional comfort, deepening liquidity and accelerating mainstream adoption.

 Until now, Bermuda’s clear, risk-based rules and direct access to regulators have been a differentiator, a key draw for overseas founders frustrated by uncertainty at home. If the US offers comparable clarity – alongside a larger domestic market, access to US banking rails and proximity to major venture capital hubs – some early-stage firms may opt to launch in the US, rather than a jurisdiction like Bermuda.

That does not necessarily spell decline for Bermuda. Instead, the island may sharpen its focus more narrowly and emerge as a domicile for sophisticated, cross-border structures rather than mass-market retail platforms. 

Tokenised ILS, crypto reinsurance vehicles and life insurance products denominated in digital assets are all areas where Bermuda’s re/insurance expertise and digital-asset regime intersect in ways that are hard for competitors to replicate quickly. 

In the near term, Bermuda’s challenge will be to keep building on the international credibility of its regulatory regime – particularly in areas such as tokenisation. If it can remain the jurisdiction where complex ideas in digital finance meet deep insurance capital and credible oversight, the island may find that America’s new openness is less a threat than a prompt to refine its niche.

The post US warms to digital assets – where does that leave Bermuda? appeared first on RG Magazines.

 As cyberattacks increase worldwide, the island’s wealth and concentration of high-value firms make it an appealing target for criminal groups seeking quick payouts.

The island’s global insurance sector, financial institutions, professional-services firms and even small retailers often hold sensitive data that criminals view as valuable leverage.

The major cyberattack that crippled Bermuda Government systems in September 2023 and caused disruption for weeks afterwards highlighted the potential dangers for the island.

In 2024, both the Lindo’s Group of Companies and Bermuda College revealed they had experienced “cyber incidents”. It is likely that many more Bermuda organisations have been targeted by hackers without going public.

In January this year, PowerSchool, a US education technology provider used by Bermuda’s public schools, reported that unauthorised access was obtained via compromised credentials. This attack highlighted how local organisations can be impacted by an attack on an overseas digital services provider.

 Cybersecurity firm TotalAssure projects there will be nearly 293 million cyber incidents globally this year, up 22 per cent from 2024, based on the data it tracks. Some of this increase is attributed to hackers harnessing the power of AI to increase the volume and intensity of attacks. 

Phishing e-mails, historically easier to spot, are now being crafted by AI models capable of mimicking writing styles, producing flawless grammar and generating personalised messages using publicly available information. 

What once looked like a clumsy scam can now appear indistinguishable from internal corporate communication, making it far more likely that an employee will click on a malicious link or open an infected attachment.

TotalAssure also finds 79 per cent of successful attacks use no malware, gaining access to systems through legitimate credentials hackers often obtain by duping humans, traditionally viewed as a weak link in cybersecurity defences.

No matter how strong the firewalls that a company has in place, defences can be easily bypassed if staff, unaware of the dangers, click on a suspicious link or take the phishing bait. Hence the critical importance of training. 

The Bermuda Government has moved to strengthen the island’s defences against cyberattacks, by enacting the Cybersecurity Act 2024, which tightens protections for critical national infrastructure.

The Ministry of National Security has also partnered with the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, to build the island’s protection and response framework against cyber threats, enabling the implementation of a national cybersecurity incident response team.

The result will be public access to “real-time threat information, awareness resources and incident reporting tools”, while also helping to equip the island with a threat intelligence platform to detect, analyse and protect against cyber threats, the Ministry has stated.

For 60 per cent of business leaders, cybersecurity is a top-three strategic priority, according to PwC’s 2026 Global Digital Trust survey of nearly 3,900 executives across 72 countries. The survey showed geopolitical risk has heightened concerns over the cyber threat. And it found many businesses are looking to use AI agents to bolster security in areas including the cloud, data protection, cyber defence and operations.

For businesses of all sizes, cybersecurity is increasingly viewed as less a purely technical issue delegated to the IT team and more a whole-organisation priority. Proactive businesses are deploying multi-factor authentication, strong password practices, encrypted backups and robust incident-response plans. Maintaining up-to-date software and applying patches in a timely fashion, is also essential to prevent hackers from exploiting known weaknesses.

As Bermuda continues to expand its high-tech economy, cybersecurity maturity must grow alongside it. The threat landscape is not standing still — and neither can Bermudian organisations.

The post Stopping the hackers appeared first on RG Magazines.

 Already the benefits being paid out by the fund exceed the social insurance contributions being paid in by nearly $70 million. 

Next year is projected to be the first in which benefits will exceed the sum of contributions plus investment income, starting the downward trajectory that leads to exhaustion by 2042.

Simply put – without significant changes – Bermudians in their mid-40s and younger are paying into a pension fund that will not pay them a cent in retirement.

To change that outlook, David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, has promised to look at proposals to reform the CPF in 2026.

Lawmakers are likely to be asked to consider adjustments to one or more of three key variables: benefits, contributions and retirement age.

In 2025, there are more than 15,000 CPF pension recipients, a number that has risen 44 per cent in the space of 14 years, as baby boomers exit the work force.

On the other side of the ledger, the number of contributors fell by nearly 6 per cent between 2011 and 2023, as the size of the workforce declined. As of 2023, there were on average 2.3 people paying into the fund for each pension recipient. As the actuarial report noted, “the CPF is not financially sustainable for the long term”.

This year the Government enacted reforms for the Public Service Superannuation Fund, which benefits public service workers, and which had been on course to run out by 2045. 

The changes raise the minimum age for uniformed services to collect full pensions from 50 to 55, and for most other civil servants from 60 to 65. There was also an increase in contributions — from 9 per cent of salary to 11.5 per cent for uniformed services and from 8 per cent to 10 per cent for other civil servants. The changes will be implemented between 2027 and 2035.

A change in retirement age seems logical, given the increase in life expectancy. A study by the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation found that in 1980, men would on average have 14 years in retirement after exiting the workforce, and by 2022, this had increased to 18 years. For women, the retirement period grew from 18 years to almost 23 years over the same period. 

Many countries facing an unfunded pension liabilities crisis have opted to raise the retirement age. Australia, Denmark and Iceland, for example, have an official retirement age of 67.

 Britain is one of several countries going through a graduated increase: the state pension age went up to 66 in 2020 and is scheduled to climb to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2037.

In some nations, there are financial incentives for delaying retirement. In Canada, for example, people who retire at 65 receive the standard monthly payment. If they opt to retire at 60, they receive 36 per cent less. And retiring at 70, they would pocket 42 per cent more.

All that said, in Bermuda total reliance on a government pension to cover all living expenses would seem unrealistic. The basic pension is $1,206 per month and the maximum is $1,752. Subtracting the minimum premium for the government-run FutureCare health plan for seniors — $530 a month — would not leave much to pay other bills.

 For many Bermudians, their occupational pension plans, funded by 5 per cent deductions from wages and a matching contribution from their employers, will provide more of their retirement income than their government pension.

When leaders of the pension fund management industry spoke at the CFA Society Bermuda’s Pension Breakfast Seminar in September, their message was clear: we all need take charge of our own retirement funds, rather than rely on underfunded, government-run pension schemes.

The panel noted the average pension balance in Bermuda is about $150,000 — compared to the average balance of $313,000 in American 401(k) retirement funds — for people aged 45 to 55. Local factors such as mid-career withdrawals, maternity leave and the gender pay gap make the shortfall more pronounced, they said.

To achieve an income of 70 per cent of pre-retirement income, it is likely many of us may need to work for longer, or contribute more to our pension funds, or both, the panellists remarked.

The idea that retirement happens at an age set by the Government was challenged by Karl Smith, head of pensions, life and investment at Freisenbruch, who said: “It’s not. It’s a time set on you with regard to what you put in, what plan you put in place, and it’s that planning piece that we’re all missing.”

In practice, it’s clear that in Bermuda many people are not stopping work at 65. According to the latest Employment Briefs survey, Bermuda’s workforce includes more than 3,000 people aged 65 and over, representing 9 per cent of the workforce.

Another factor that can have a significant impact on the growth of a pension nest egg is the fees charged by a fund administrator. A report by the US Department of Labour illustrated how a difference of 1 percentage point in fees charged over time reduced an example pension plan’s closing balance by a staggering 28 per cent.

In July last year, Mr Burt said that from 2020 to 2023, it was estimated that plan administrators collectively earned gross administration fees of more than $500 million, based on a typical annual fee of 1.5 per cent of a plan member’s balance.

In September this year, MPs passed legislation that limited what local defined contribution pension plan administrators can charge to 0.5 per cent when the account balance is below $25,000; 0.5 per cent when below $50,000; and 1.25 per cent when the account balance is above $50,000.

The post Action needed to save our pensions appeared first on RG Magazines.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72 per cent) said they would support a government-backed lending programme, in partnership with local banks, designed to encourage owners to make repairs to derelict homes. Only 9 per cent would oppose such a scheme, while 19 per cent were unsure.

And nearly half of people (46 per cent) would welcome the Government being empowered to seize long-term derelict homes for redevelopment into affordable housing, by means of compulsory acquisition orders. 

Other respondents were split between opposing the measure (28 per cent) and being unsure about it (26 per cent).

The survey of 401 residents was conducted for The Royal Gazette by Global Research. With Bermuda going through a housing crisis and with more than 1,100 people homeless, the results reflect strong support for converting a blight on the landscape into badly needed homes.

The Department of Planning, in its 2023 Housing Land Audit, recognised 333 units as “uninhabitable”. These are properties categorised by the Department of Land Valuation as having an annual rental value of $0.

Pembroke was the area with most uninhabitable structures (43), followed by Sandys and the City of Hamilton (each had 31), Warwick (25) and the Town of St George (22). 

The report stressed this data probably failed to capture all uninhabitable properties, since the onus was on owners to apply for “uninhabitable” classification, which sometimes they did not do. 

Issues that render a property unfit for living in include a collapsing roof or floor, or a combination of smaller defects that “go beyond normal repairs”.

The report explains: “Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these properties are locked in family disputes, lack of kin readily available to inherit property, or insufficient finances are available to refurbish property so that it can return to the property market.”

Crystal Caesar, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, stated in December 2024 that the Department of Planning was working on an updated Housing Land Audit, which was not available at the time of writing.

Some of the uninhabitable buildings are are government properties. The Bermuda Housing Corporation is in the process of a four-year project to redevelop 77 derelict units to add to its available housing stock by 2027.  

In April this year, The Royal Gazette reported that the Government was considering penalties and incentives to stimulate development of vacant properties. 

A government spokesman was quoted as saying: “Vacant buildings are often empty because their owners lack the financial means to carry out necessary renovations. Simply increasing the tax burden could make revitalisation even more challenging. Instead, the Government believes a holistic and creative approach is required, one that carefully balances penalties and incentives in a way that is fair, equitable and effective.”

A government-backed lending programme to help owners of dilapidated buildings to fund renovations proved popular in the survey. Partnering with a local bank in such a way enabled the Government to launch a mortgage guarantee scheme in October 2022, in which qualifying first-time borrowers received rates as low as 5 per cent and down payments of 10 per cent for mortgages with Bermuda Commercial Bank.

As for development of newbuild affordable housing, that is only likely to happen if the Government provides financial incentives to developers, agreed nearly half (48 per cent) of respondents to the survey. Just under one in five (18 per cent) disagreed, while one third (34 per cent) were unsure. 

The post Public wants action on derelict homes appeared first on RG Magazines.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette in 2010, Mr Richards said: “Take a B52, a bomber that’s designed to fly into high-risk situations. It has eight engines, so if one or two or even three fail, the plane can still fly. But in single-engine Bermuda, we have to avoid the risks that larger countries take because if our one engine stalls, we’re going down. That single engine is international business.”

In the year Mr Richards made those comments, IB represented 25.6 per cent of Bermuda’s gross domestic product and employed 11 per cent of the workforce. By 2023 IB’s share of GDP had edged up to 29 per cent, while the industry now directly provides 15 per cent of full-time jobs.

In 2024, the international business sector paid $1.78 billion to its island-based employees, a new record high, according to data from the Department of Statistics. This represents a remarkable 41 per cent of Bermuda’s total employment income earned by 15 per cent of the workforce.

It is worth emphasising how the IB sector’s value goes beyond the firms themselves. The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers’ annual economic substance survey for 2024 shows member firms’ on-island spending — on compensation for staff, business services (such as legal, accounting, IT, consulting and recruitment firms), real estate, travel, entertainment and charitable donations – totalled more than $1.2 billion in 2024.

The group of 30 or so international re/insurance firms in the survey were therefore injecting an average of $100 million per month into the local economy, a staggering sum.

 Many of the dollars paid in salaries, or to contracted local firms, are spent again and again in the local economy — for example, spending on mortgages, retail purchases, restaurant visits, travel, retail purchases, and rents. 

This so-called “multiplier effect” means the sector’s impact on the local economy is far greater than GDP statistics would suggest, given that IB dollars rippling across Bermuda drive the output of multiple other sectors.

This year the IB goose started laying a second golden egg, as the Corporate Income Tax — a 15 per cent levy on profits paid by Bermudian-based international companies with annual global revenues of 750,000 million euros ($870 million) or more — took effect. The tax was introduced as Bermuda’s response to the global minimum tax envisioned by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar 2 initiative. 

The first CIT payments were scheduled to be paid in August. The Government has forecast CIT revenue of $187.5 million for 2025-26 and $600 million for each of the following two fiscal years.

While CIT filings are unpredictable and will fluctuate in line with the ups and downs of corporate profits, $600 million would represent the equivalent of a near 50 per cent boost to annual government revenues. With this seemingly too-good-to-be-true scenario comes the opportunity to pay down public debt, boost public services, upgrade infrastructure, shore up pension funds and bring tax relief to residents and businesses.

Ensuring that this extraordinary recurring windfall continues will depend on ensuring the CIT tax base opts to remain in Bermuda for the long term.

And the next step towards achieving that will be ensuring Qualified Refundable Tax Credits, structured to comply with OECD’s GloBE framework, are implemented. The Tax Reform Commission has already proposed a range of credits that reward local economic substance, initially aimed at the re/insurance industry.

 These credits would be awarded based on metrics such as employment and training of locals, investment in business innovation, infrastructure and housing, as well as consistent charitable donations over a substantial threshold. The Government tabled tax credit legislation in the House of Assembly in November.

Given that Bermuda needs investment in all of these areas, the credits themselves promise to be a boon for the local economy over time – additional to the tax revenue itself. They create incentives for big businesses to invest in badly needed housing developments, jobs and training for Bermudians, electricity and telecommunications systems and Bermuda’s nonprofit sector. 

The credits are essential for Bermuda’s competitiveness as an international business jurisdiction, because other jurisdictions, such as Singapore and Ireland, are implementing their own QRTCs as they strive to remain competitive as they revise their tax systems to comply with the global minimum tax initiative.

Another reason the stakes are high is that some of the small group of multinational companies in scope of the CIT provide hundreds of well-paying local jobs. 

A perception among this group that Bermuda is doing too little to reduce the cost of doing business would be costly for the island in terms of employment, if re/insurers respond by relocating corporate functions, or even head offices, to other locations within the group.

John Huff, Abir’s chief executive officer, said in the press release on the Abir survey: “ABIR members look forward to gaining greater clarity on the full impact of the CIT, as the Tax Reform Commission’s recommendations on reforms including tax credits are considered by Parliament. Reducing Bermuda’s cost of doing business is critical to create a more favourable environment for job retention and job creation for Bermudians.”

Likewise, Christian Dunleavy, chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies has warned of the impact of the CIT on Bermuda’s competitiveness. 

“We are in a perpetual race to enhance our value proposition and competitiveness while safeguarding our reputation, particularly with a diminished tax advantage,” Mr Dunleavy said at ABIC’s annual meeting in November. 

“In today’s world capital and people are incredibly mobile. Standing still is falling behind. As the saying goes, it’s OK to look backwards, just don’t stare. We need to continue to move Bermuda to the future.”

The analogy of the one-engined plane is probably even more apt today than it was when Mr Richards said it. 

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The TRC was appointed late in 2023, ahead of the implementation of the Corporate Income Tax, to recommend tax policy reforms to create a more transparent, fair, equitable and straightforward tax system.

Reducing the cost of living and cost of doing business was a particular focus of the TRC, which consulted with more than 500 people and 30 stakeholder groups during the research that led up to the publication of its report in September.

Business groups in Bermuda have long lamented the high cost of doing business as an inhibitor of economic growth and job creation. A particular concern is the taxes and benefits that come with employing someone, which mean that hiring a worker on a $100,000 salary will often cost a business more than $125,000 a year.

Employers pay the lion’s share of payroll tax, the largest single contributor to government coffers, expected to generate more than $621 million in 2025-26. They also pay half of their employees’ health insurance premiums, half of the social insurance contributions that fund the Contributory Pension Plan, as well as forking out an additional 5 per cent of an employee’s salary to contribute to their occupational pension plans.

Lightening the load of some of these obligations would make hiring people less expensive and make Bermuda more attractive as a place to locate employees and teams. 

And CIT revenues – although highly unpredictable – promise the fiscal flexibility that would allow the Government to lower those costs. The TRC laid out practical ways this could be done.

To help manage the uncertainty of CIT revenues, the TRC proposed a “waterfall” funding allocation model, listing recommendations in order of priority.  Only when higher-level priorities, such the debt sinking fund, are substantially funded do funds flow down to lower priorities.

Some of the recommendations that could most directly impact local businesses include:

Employer payroll tax

In addition to reductions in employee payroll tax, the TRC proposed capping the rate paid by employers at a maximum 7%, potentially falling further to 5%.

Under today’s graduated regime, larger employers pay higher rates of employer payroll tax. Companies with a total annual payroll of $1 million or more pay a 10 per cent rate, except exempt companies, which pay 10.25 per cent.

For a company in the 10 per cent bracket, a reduction to 7 per cent could result in a significant saving – for example, a local business employing 30 employees on an average salary of $80,000 would save $72,000 a year, rising to $120,000 if the rate was reduced to 5 per cent in future.

The TRC estimates the Government would see a fall of $68 million in payroll tax revenue resulting from the reduction.

Employer health insurance subsidy

Some countries levy a tax to pay for a public healthcare system. In Bermuda, we pay premiums to private health insurers, but the effect is the same as a regressive tax — in that those on low incomes need to pay a higher portion of their income to get access to the same level of healthcare as higher earners. 

This tax-like impact, coupled with the significant and increasing impact of health insurance as a cost of doing business, persuaded the TRC to include it in their recommendations.

Global healthcare inflation is in double digits, according to tracking by Aon and WTW. In Bermuda, health insurance increases are driven by increased use of health services by our ageing population, an ever-increasing range of drugs and treatments, and chronic diseases linked to unhealthy habits.

The TRC has proposed a refund of 25 per cent of employers’ Standard Premium Rate contribution — which amounted to $400.41 per policy per month in 2024. The full payment would continue to support the healthcare system — the refund would be paid separately by the Government.

Health insurance represents a significant portion of employment costs, particularly for lower-income workers. The TRC’s research found that for a worker earning $60,000, the employer portion of health insurance is generally $3,000 to $6,000 per year, depending on the type of plan. A refund cutting this expense by approximately $1,200 per employee would cut the cost of hiring, with the hope this would spur job creation.

The refund would cost the Government approximately $19 million annually, says the TRC. The Commission adds that the recommendation is designed to be a temporary measure, pending developments with the Government’s progress towards Universal Healthcare.

Elimination of Foreign Currency Purchase Tax

Nearly all goods sold to consumers in Bermuda — from groceries and clothing to building supplies and pharmaceuticals — are imported. This means paying overseas suppliers in their own currency, which necessitates changing Bermudian dollars into foreign currency — a transaction subject to the 1.25 per cent Foreign Currency Purchase Tax.

It may not sound much, but it adds up: the Government projects it will take in almost $33 million in FCPT in the current fiscal year.

The 1.25 per cent exchange charge adds to an importer’s cost base. As the TRC Report notes, by the time the goods go through successive profit margin mark-ups in the wholesaler-retailer local supply chain, the impact on the price paid by consumers is likely to be more than 1.25 per cent.

Utility tax relief

Businesses in Bermuda all consume electricity to varying degrees. Anything that reduces Belco bills will benefit every sector of the economy, as well as consumers.

The TRC has proposed eliminating customs duties on electricity production and removing employer payroll taxes for utility bulk electrical generation, resulting in an estimated decrease of $8 million in government revenues. 

Since the rates Belco can charge have to be approved by the Regulatory Authority — which considers the utility’s cost base as part of the formula — then the TRC-proposed savings for Belco will be passed directly onto customers.

If all of these measures are implemented, their combined impact has the potential to deliver a significant overall reduction in the cost of doing business for many local companies.

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In the realms of tourism and taxation in particular, there is potential to meaningfully improve the prosperity of the island and its residents for the long term. But in both cases, the question is: are we ready?

Overall, the statistics suggest the economy is healthy. Gross domestic product, a commonly used measure of economic activity, grew for nine quarters out of ten through the first quarter of 2025. 

Employment too is on the up. Despite the hundreds of baby boomer Bermudians leaving the workforce annually, the economy added more than 2,000 full-time jobs between 2021 and 2024, an increase of 6.8 per cent over three years. The island’s total employment income swelled to nearly $4.4 billion in 2024, up 8 per cent from the year before.

However, stark inequity is evident. In terms of sectors, the bulk of economic gains have come in international business, which represents 15 per cent of the island’s jobs and more than 40 per cent of the compensation. 

Generally speaking, highly qualified professionals have seen their living standards rise, as their income gains outstrip inflation. But pay rises in most other occupations have lagged inflation, leaving workers worse off. 

At the Association of Bermuda International Companies’ annual meeting in November, guest speaker and economist Nathan Kowalski displayed a slide encapsulating this story, a K-shaped line graph showing real employment income over the past 15 years. Two white-collar categories showed a steady upward slope, while all other categories were sloping downward – a clear indication of an inequality gap that is widening year by year.

The “K-shaped economy” is something many countries are struggling with today. High-income individuals and sectors like tech, finance, and large corporations see strong wage growth and expansion.

Lower-income individuals on the K’s downward slope, in industries like hospitality, retail and some small businesses, see their purchasing power shrink and struggle with the rising cost of living.

Wealthier individuals drive the consumer spending that fuels economic growth, masking the effect of lower-income consumers pulling back.

Add to that the lack of housing availability and affordability, and the ever-increasing cost of healthcare, and it is clear why many residents believe this statistically successful economy does not reflect their own experience.

Here, we look at two factors that could be powerful influences on the Bermuda economy in 2026.

Fairmont revival

The reopening of the Fairmont Southampton after more than five years, expected in 2026, will be a seismic economic event. 

The completion of a comprehensive renovation by owners Gencom represents a tangible sign of renewal for the tourism industry. It will bring 593 fully refurbished guest rooms and suites, growing the island’s hotel room inventory by about 30 per cent at a stroke. 

The new hotel will help to boost air visitor numbers, airlift, corporate group visits and conferences, and inject new energy into a sector that has struggled to regain its footing since the pandemic. 

Additional airline capacity and Fairmont’s global marketing power will help to boost Bermuda’s attractiveness as a destination, bringing spin-off benefits to other hotels, guesthouses and vacation rentals.

For tourism-related businesses — taxi operators, restaurants, retailers, tour operators, water-sports companies — the economic effect could be transformative. A full Fairmont Southampton represents thousands of additional visitor nights every week during peak season. It means more tables filled, more excursions booked, more rides, and more cash circulating through the local economy. For many small businesses, the reopening could be the difference between survival and growth.

To grasp these opportunities, Bermuda’s labour market and visitor services must live up to the challenge.

 The hotel will employ an estimated 700 people, another economic gain. However, in Bermuda’s tight labour market, and with unemployment estimated at just 1.5 per cent, it is clear that most of them will have to be recruited either from overseas, or lured away from other local businesses.

 According to Marico Thomas, president of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, this is “a national labour issue”, with local businesses already struggling to find the staff they need.

“So, what happens when 700-plus new jobs open up and there are insufficient people?” Mr Thomas said. “Businesses will start picking each other’s pockets to survive.”

While he was broadly supportive of the Government’s recently announced revised work permit policy, Mr Thomas said it did “not address the real challenge, which is simply that Bermuda needs more persons in the workforce”.

With a surge in visitor numbers expected to follow the Fairmont’s reopening, there will also be a strain on transport services, already straining to service cruise ship visitors arriving at Dockyard. And any workers coming in will need somewhere to live – another challenge given the dearth of affordable housing.

The Fairmont Southampton can only be a sustained success if guests have a good experience – and that will depend on having staff of sufficient number and quality to deliver value for money. Ensuring the hotel’s return can be turning point the tourism sector craves will require planning, investment, and responsive policy.

Tax bonanza

There is no doubt international business has led the Bermuda economy for the past two decades or more. IB directly contributes 29 cents of every dollar of gross domestic product. If its indirect contribution could be calculated and added, then IB probably represents more than half the economy.

 International business has been an extraordinary success story for Bermuda. It provides more than 5,000 full-time jobs that come with a mean income nearly two-and-a-half times that of Bermuda’s overall workforce. And IB dollars fuel much of the island’s service economy and the real estate sector.

The implementation of the Corporate Income Tax now means the largest multinationals, mostly re/insurers, will contribute potentially hundreds of millions of dollars more annually. 

Over time there is great potential for CIT revenues to get Bermuda’s fiscal house in order, pay off chunks of the $3.2 billion of the national debt, act to reduce the cost of living, invest in infrastructure and fund solutions to our biggest social problems.

 While the immense potential is tantalising, there are dependency risks that come with the CIT:

 • CIT revenues will fluctuate – a year of windstorms, earthquakes and wildfires in heavily insured regions could lead to a loss-making year for many of the largest taxpayers

• The CIT was Bermuda’s response to the OECD-instigated global minimum tax, but international tax standards may change over time and Bermuda will need to adapt

• The tax base may erode if CIT payers relocate to competitor jurisdictions, emphasising the importance of reducing the overall cost of doing business.

Such considerations suggest it would be unwise to count on CIT revenues as a substantial contributor to future government budgets.

With the Bermuda Corporate Income Tax Agency up and running, the island has put in place the infrastructure to manage the CIT windfalls separately and in a measured fashion.

 What happens in 2026 – in terms of efficiency, transparency and how CIT funds are used – will have a powerful influence on whether the tax will generate a recurring windfall and whether the island’s most valuable companies continue to see Bermuda as the best place in the world to do business.

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