Omega Underwriting and Hiscox, both Lloyd's insurers, recently decided to relocate to Bermuda in order to take advantage of its more favourable tax and regulatory regime.
Amlin, another UK-listed Lloyd's insurer has a Bermudan operation, while Wellington is keeping the possibility under consideration.

The hurricane season last year inflicted estimated losses of £43bn on the global insurance and reinsurance industry. This has prompted London-based insurers to relocate to Bermuda where operations can be run more profitably.

Bermuda is the traditional home of insurance and reinsurance outside London, but the Insurance and Pensions Authority (IPA) in the Isle of Man is watching the movement with interest, to see if there is an opportunity to entice large reinsurance businesses to set up here.

David Vick, chief executive of the IPA, said: 'Bermuda is the international centre for large reinsurers. It's a very highly developed market, having said that, there are a number of reasons why other centres such as the Isle of Man might be attractive for that business. At the moment Bermuda is the key centre, but there are some interesting developments from an Island context.'

He added: 'International reinsurance companies are very highly capitalised and don't employ high volumes of staff, but employ specialised, highly qualified staff. This fits the profile of businesses the Isle of Man wants to attract.'

Mr Vick added that adapting Manx legislation to attract these companies wouldn't be too difficult to achieve.