The Irish are passionate and resourceful, and when they spot an opportunity they embrace it with zeal. Since establishing the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in 1987, and the incorporation of the first captive in 1989, Dublin has grown into the fourth largest reinsurance centre in the world and is a top ten captive domicile, as noted by Sarah Goddard, chief executive officer of the Dublin Insurance Managers Association (DIMA). (‘A New Dawn for Dublin’, page 12.)
Until now, the Dublin insurance industry has not had a publication that it can rightfully call its own. Dublin Insurance Solutions magazine fulfils this need.
Our goal is to educate the international market as to the benefits of doing business in Dublin, and highlight the talent, knowledge and professionalism that exist there.
For many years, Dublin has been termed the ‘Bermuda of Europe’, but as this inaugural issue of Dublin Insurance Solutions will show, the market has outgrown this moniker and developed into a prosperous insurance centre with its own characteristics, strengths and opportunities.
In recent years international insurers and reinsurers have faced a string of challenges. First, there were the massive losses from 9/11, coupled with low interest rates and falling equity returns. Now there are investigations into commissions and accounting practices. The legacy of under-priced business is claiming victims, and some of the older, more established companies are having to boost their reserves. However, Barry White, associate director at AON Insurance Managers (Dublin), believes this provides great opportunity to a domicile like Dublin. To quote Mr White: “Opportunities abound for brave new players with no links to a troubled past. Billions of dollars of new capital poured into the industry in 2002 and it is highly significant that companies like Axis Specialty, Ace Tempest Re and Allied World Assurance Holdings chose to establish operations in Dublin’s Fair City to act as a platform to access European markets.” (‘A Creative Spirit’, page 24)
Fresh capital and conducive regulation help to make Dublin a strong proposition, but it is also the quality of people working in the industry that sets it apart from other domiciles. As Paul Cotter from Joslin Rowe points out, “...a very high percentage [of people] that now work for IFSC companies previously worked overseas. This I believe had a massive impact on the success of the companies that opened as they carried with them a wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts.” (‘Growing Pains’, page 44)
The first half of 2005 has seen both threats and opportunities for the Dublin insurance market. The United States’ SEC investigation into finite reinsurance has meant that the number of deals being done in this sector has reduced to a trickle. But as one business opportunity appears to diminish, another presents itself in the form of the European Reinsurance Directive.
Whether the proposals in the new directive will actually deliver the promised benefits to the reinsurance industry is yet to be seen. For Dublin, it will mean competitors like Gibraltar and Malta will have slightly more credibility as domiciles. However, if the Dublin insurance industry can stand strong, and collectively show its talent, expertise and professionalism, then it should be able to take advantage of whatever business opportunities present themselves.
