Mitch Blaser: I am co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Mosaic Insurance, with Mark Wheeler. We’re a new generation global specialty insurance company based in Bermuda with a Lloyd’s syndicate and underwriting hubs around the world. We opened up in February 2021; the company is new on the block, although not me—I’ve been around forever!

Mosaic is a member of Bermuda’s “class of 2021” in the insurance space. Like previous groups of startups and scaleups, this one has been a great boost for Bermuda, both reputationally—underscoring the market’s innovation here—and economically. When you have any type of large event in the insurance industry, it spurs the creation of new businesses, opportunities, and companies setting up on the Island.

About $19 billion of new capital has come to Bermuda over the past year due to this latest wave of new re/insurers. New companies choose this jurisdiction for its speed to market. Being able to work with the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), and have the credibility of its regulatory support—a process that works well to get you into the market quickly—is a huge benefit.

It’s also beneficial to companies to be able to leverage Bermuda’s top-tier reputation as a financial services centre, and all the global support we get as a well-regulated location in the insurance industry. Bermuda’s track record in this respect keeps stimulating new business opportunities here on the Island, which helps everyone.

Penny MacIntyre: I’m a partner in Rego Sotheby’s International Realty running the business operations here. In terms of what’s happening in real estate, we are extremely busy right now. This would be our industry’s best year in at least two decades.

Residential rentals are very bullish. You will find it very difficult to get a rental property now. Even quality homes for sale are difficult to find. We have bidding wars on some rental properties.

That challenge is driven by the success of the Work From Bermuda programme the government instituted because we didn’t have tourism for a while. That triggered high demand and took the inventory that would ordinarily be there for the long-term executives. We are seeing individuals and families who came here on that programme fall in love with this place and they’ve decided to stay longer and even buy.

We’ve got an active local buying audience too, in addition to the increased global interest. Because Bermudians are not travelling, they have more disposable income and that has led to a buying spree.

There are also active investors looking to hotels, tourism or industrial developments. We’re seeing a number of commercial businesses looking at renewable energy, so we’re experiencing a dynamic movement across nearly every element of real estate.

The one area that sadly continues to struggle is the condominium market. That has been about a 12-year problem for the Island, some of which is due to legislative issues. Not allowing work permit holders to buy a condominium has been very difficult and is an ongoing battle for our industry.

Separately the Economic Investment Certificate (EIC) launched by government in March 2021 now means if we have an international person coming to the Island, the only place they can buy a condominium is within a hotel tourism development which at this time is only St Regis, since Loren sold out and Azura is just starting construction on Phase 3.

So Bermuda is now experiencing a big challenge. We are advocating for other properties to undertake some development and construction.

On the international homes, we’ve had a very good year again. We expect to either match or eclipse 2020, which was a record-setting year. Those prices range from $3 million to over $15 million.

Michael Neff: The advantage of working in a bank is you get to see all the funds flow. We expected COVID-19’s impact on the Island to be far more severe than it has been. In March 2020, we were forecasting a severe economic decline, a big uptick in delinquencies in the loan portfolio and all sorts of awful things.

We had a moratorium on loan payments for six months and the government did a lot to help people who became unemployed. The impact was, I think, very well managed by the Island collectively. The government did a good job of managing the pandemic, and as a consequence, we’re in a much better place than we thought we would be.

There are some real bright spots ahead. We see further opportunity in the reinsurance space. We see a lot of opportunity in the real estate space, and some of those things go hand in glove.

We’re working with clients to finance the construction of apartments in the city. We are also working with some commercial retail clients to bring more commercial space that gives a place for startups to go. We’re trying to help to build out better alternatives in the commercial space.

The residential real estate piece is a real challenge, but our mortgage business has held up well. There are a lot of positive things going on and in terms of future development.

There is another side to the coin. If you go into retail and hospitality, it all gets very challenging. The Chamber of Commerce represents some 725 businesses, 55 of which have closed and a further 70 are partially closed or potentially closing. And there are big challenges in hospitality.

But we need that back online. That has knock-on effects for airlift, which is really important. Airlift is important in the business sector because of access to the Island. We need some of our big hotels operating at full capacity again.

Some folks are definitely struggling. There was a recent report that suggested some 1,900 jobs had disappeared, most of which are in the hospitality sector.

One of our challenges is the income inequality problem. That is of some concern to us, frankly, because a healthy Island would benefit everyone.

I don’t think we’re going to have as strong a year overall that we were initially hoping we would have, because of further waves of COVID-19. We desperately need everybody vaccinated so we have no more waves and that will encourage tourism.

We are also going to have to mention government finances because that problem is not going away. The debt is huge and there is a big budget deficit. There will be challenges there.

Finally, we’ll all have to come to terms with global minimum tax standards, potentially. That is something we have to work with and be orchestrated in a way that keeps the rating agencies on side. It’s not only important for the sovereign debt, but it’s important for reinsurance companies and even a place like Butterfield, whose rating sits one below the sovereign rating.

I would add that we are seeing challenges with supply chains, because of what’s going on with the price of oil, and people are going to see some big upticks in prices on the Island. That again affects the overall balance of the economy.

We do see a fair amount of resilience. Our Bermuda dollar deposits are over a billion dollars, higher than pre-pandemic levels. Having Bermudians stuck on the Island was very helpful, spending money locally, taking staycations at the hotels. We didn’t expect that and that has made a very big difference in terms of keeping the economy afloat.

But at some point, people are going to start travelling again. We need hospitality to pick up as Bermudians start travelling again. We need to make sure we have ample jobs in the hospitality sector and the retail sector. So it’s a good news/bad news story, but it could have been far worse. I think we’re reasonably positioned for a recovery in the next couple of years.

Charles Jeffers: Some of you may know my father, Charles Jeffers I. I am a Bermudian who has lived abroad for almost 30 years, working in destination marketing. I came home for this job in April. I have moved back to a country I haven’t lived in for almost 30 years—in the middle of a crisis.

It’s been a very interesting time but I’m happy to serve my country in this way. I wanted to come home to assist in the Island’s recovery. I want us to recover smartly. We have missed a lot of opportunities in the past.

We have taken our eye off hospitality. Part of the reason that international business moved to Bermuda was because of our great hotels, great restaurants and things to do. Now, it’s time for us to refocus. I don’t think we have to choose between international business and hospitality—they can flourish together.

But it’s a tough time for our industry. We are struggling right now and, unfortunately, Bermuda is probably struggling more than some of our competitors. That is directly as a result of our testing protocols which may be perceived as onerous to prospective visitors. The glimmer of hope is that the government is considering changes (see update below).

Meanwhile, we’re preparing for next year. We’re in the middle of a brand study where we are taking a look at our brand and our story as a country and defining what that story is. I’m not saying we need to be telling the same story, but we should at least have a common theme. Marketing is about consistency and what it takes to attract people to your business.

We look at Bermuda as a business and we have to be a lot easier to do business with. We have to take a look at how we operate as a country and make things easier for people.

That means some serious changes. The world has changed, and people have choices, such as our neighbours to the south, the Caribbean Islands.

We have a real opportunity to make some significant changes because of COVID-19. We need to be more collaborative within our hospitality industry and outside it. We all need to work together and be more collaborative.

Finally, when it comes to workforce development and bringing people into our industry, we need to be better at attracting people to the hospitality industry. We also have to get cruise ships back. This year, we are probably going to realise about 2 percent of what we normally have from cruise ship passengers. The country can’t survive off that—we need probably at least 75 percent back to make a real go of it. This is another reason why I’ve been encouraging the government to make these changes to COVID-19 testing. Cruise ships have said that they are not coming back to Bermuda with our existing protocols. They’re making decisions today about next year.

Despite all that doom and gloom, I’m still optimistic about the future. It’s not about the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA), it’s about Bermuda. We all want Bermuda to thrive and it’s going to take all of us to make it happen.

Update: Since the General Economy roundtable took place, the Bermuda government enacted the first significant loosening of COVID-19 protocols at the border since the Island re-opened in July 2020. On December 3, 2021, legislation came into effect, introducing the option of rapid antigen testing for travellers. Visitors travelling to the Island for seven days or fewer will no longer be required to undergo the day 4 or day 10 tests.

Additionally, in response to the US mandate that all inbound travellers have a negative test within 24 hours of departure, the Bermuda Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL) has introduced quick turnaround of antigen test result certification. While the BTA will continue to work with the government to lobby for additional refinement of the visitor arrival and on-Island experience, these two changes will reduce the real and perceived obstacles for vaccinated travellers to the Island. They will make Bermuda a more attractive destination for travellers and air and cruise partners.

John Huff: I represent the Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers. I am positive about Bermuda’s economic future. In the insurance and reinsurance sector, our businesses have probably never been stronger. There has been some $19 billion worth of investment in the insurance and reinsurance sector in Bermuda within the last 24 months, much of it driven on the P&C side.

I understand that the wider Bermuda economy is lagging a little, but it’s not something we can’t overcome. The COVID-19 vaccines are key; the US, our largest trading partner, has started airlift again but with mandatory vaccinations.

That will be a game-changer for Bermuda. The truth is that the US is open for business and that will benefit us. Tourism, travel, and real estate are all dependent on business executives choosing to be here, which also is dependent on making sure the schools are up and running.

There have been some significant donations from the international business community to help get lateral flow testing rolled out for public school students. We need that stability in COVID-19 testing, so we don’t have the disruption for international expats and local residents here. We don’t want anyone to decide that Bermuda is not the place for their family to be right now.

The good news is the fundamentals are in place.

Martin Laframboise: I’m the executive director of Bermuda International Long Term Insurers and Reinsurers (BILTIR), which represents international long-term life insurers here. The Bermuda life insurance market plays an important role in the Island’s economy; it’s a driver of growth. We have a positive outlook. Our sector grew its assets under management by 35 percent in 2020. We’re now about $670 billion and we expect that upward trend to continue. The sector is a proven and sustainable industry has continued doing well year after year.

There are more big players who want to deploy capital in Bermuda. The scale of these companies is massive. We expect five to 10 new firms coming to Bermuda annually. It’s a compelling story. The value proposition in the long-term sector space is great—200 percent growth in assets over the last five years. And we expect to continue that.

Also, this year we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary of BILTIR, which is also a great story. We started with five founding members and we are now 63.

Video on previous page courtesy of Adobe Stock / nextamericanfilms/Pond5 Image courtesy of Shutterstock / Business stock