Dennis Mahoney

'We have to be where the business is and our business in the Middle East is growing and will grow further in the future. We have 600 offices in 130 countries and realize that this is the age of globalization, so I would not be at all surprised to see our presence expanding,' says Mr. Mahoney, who is personally based in Bermuda, now the world's largest reinsurance centre.

'A decade ago hardly anyone worked in insurance in Bermuda, and yet today I suppose 5,000-7,000 people work in the sector. So you never can tell what is going to happen, and I appreciate the work of the Dubai International Financial Centre in creating a regional insurance centre regulated to global standards.

'Is that not the way the world works today? As Dr. Johnson said: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel'. And today we live in a globalized world community. Bermuda has the great advantage of zero taxes and Dubai also has that advantage as a financial centre.

'Actually I have been coming to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on holiday for nearly a decade at Easter. My young family loves the Wild Wadi and now the Ski Dubai. The weather is a big attraction. And even Bermuda has bad weather in some seasons and we don't have much to do indoors.'

So what of the growth opportunities in the Middle East? Aon notes that $100 billion worth of power projects are planned in the region by 2017 with demand for oil and gas expected to grow by 42 and 67 per cent respectively by 2030, according to the IEA.

'We have big business with our state owned clients in this region and expect them to capture more of the value chain with an expansion into downstream activities,' says Mr. Mahoney.

'Then there is all the associated infrastructure development like hotels and tower blocks. They all need insuring, and what we do as a broker is to ensure that our clients get the very best deal on insurance.

'Our clients in the Middle East are among the most sophisticated in the world. But our expertise is in knowing where to secure the best terms and conditions possible for insurance, and last year we wrote around $60 billion worth of insurance premiums.'

But will the insurance industry be able to cope if there was a repeat of the $20 billion in claims seen from hurricanes in 2005?

'People do ask, could we cope with a $100 billion year for claims?' replies Mr. Mahoney. 'If terrorism was involved there would be government assistance but with coastal locations being increasingly popular the risk is rising for the industry. That said we had much lower claims in 2006 than 2005 so who really knows what the future holds?'