Attracting an overseas technology accelerator event to Bermuda is part of David Burt’s vision for the island as it builds its reputation in the fintech sector.

The Premier mentioned the possibility as he welcomed delegates to the GR Innovation & Insurtech conference at Rosewood Bermuda.

However, while he is keen to see fintech business and innovators come to the island, he reiterated the message that Bermuda will protect its reputation through regulatory protections.

“Bermuda is about quality and not about quantity, and the regulatory protections we have are robust,” he said.

“I’m not going to say they are the easiest hurdles to cross, because we have a reputation to protect here and we want to ensure that the companies that are coming to operate from our platform are the best of breed.”

Mr Burt said the island has forward-looking leadership in government, in its regulators and the wider industry. He wants Bermuda to have an ecosystem that is advantageous for companies that come to the island. He mentioned Envelop Risk and DrumG, which both have a presence on the island, and said work was being done to bring an overseas accelerator event to the island.

“There are lot of things that we are doing to ensure that Bermuda can be that hub of innovation,” he said during an onstage conversation with Sean Moran, interim chief executive officer of the Bermuda Business Development Agency.

When asked about his vision for fintech’s social-economic impact on the island, the Premier said: “It’s what entrepreneurship means and how entrepreneurship can be different and innovation can be different.

“For instance, where before you might have needed incredible amounts of capital and different things to get started, now we are seeing ‘pitch companies’. You can have ideas, you don’t have to be very big, you can have a small team that can make a big change, have a positive impact and sell to other companies that level of technology.”

The key part of the GR event was an insurtech start-ups contest, where seven start-ups were each given five minutes to pitch their ideas for products.

Mr Burt said that while he wants the Bermuda market to innovate, he also wants people who live and work in Bermuda to realise that they themselves can be entrepreneurs.

“I love to see young kids that are in technology and insurance that are actually being a part of programmes like this, so they can get their ideas out and possibly build the next million or billion-dollar idea.”

The Premier said the island is doing a lot to ensure it can be a hub of innovation, adding: “We are a serious option. If you have the skills and the talent and the high level to make it inside the Bermuda market, and if you can get past our Bermuda Monetary Authority, [then] clearly you will have that stamp of approval that means a lot if you are trying to market yourself to various companies in this space around the world.”

This is the second consecutive year that UK-based Global Reinsurance has held its GR Innovation & Insurtech event in Bermuda. It was sponsored by Hamilton Insurance Group, AdvantageGo, Conyers Dill & Pearman, and supported by the BDA.