This is not because we fear that his animal instincts will let us down in any way if allowed out into the wild – indeed, he is impeccably well behaved and utterly reliable.
No, the reason why we keep Adam close to the news desk is because he is so valuable to us there.
He spends every working hour calling his deep and wide contact base across the world and mines a rich seam of exclusive news stories. If the phone rings and he isn’t here, we might miss out on the big scoop.
So when a series of diary clashes meant that he had to go to Bermuda to chair one of our regular series of Lloyds Bank Roundtables, this was the first event he had chaired for a long time.
Adam has an unquenchable thirst for the truth. He is also utterly fearless. He always asks the direct question that everyone is thinking about but is too diplomatic to say out loud.
This is what makes what you are about to read so fascinating.
With the market in such flux, there are hundreds of tough questions to ask:
If the old post-cat pricing cycle is dead, what is the Bermudian market for?
Are the days of the independently quoted Bermudian carrier numbered?
Is there anything that the ILS community won’t try its hand at?
Does permanent low-return capital’s discovery of our market mean that the traditional reinsurance model is broken?
How are we going to tackle our industry expense problem?
How should Bermuda rise to the challenge of InsurTech or handle the new insurance frontiers such as cyber?
We are lucky that it was Adam who was on hand to ask these questions and not someone else. He followed up with laser-sharp secondary and tertiary questions, reporter’s tenacity never letting a fragment of truth or insight escape.
Just like a terrier that has a bull by the tail, when Adam is onto something he sinks his teeth into it and refuses to let go.
Suffice to say that the panel was well and truly put through its paces (now back in London, Adam does admit he “goaded” them a little).
I thank them for coming though this trial and the frank and full exchange that ensues on these pages.
I’m sorry if they are feeling a little bruised, but I’m sure that you will agree that the sparkling debate that follows proves that the end justifies the means.
To view the Bermuda Roundtable supplement please click here.
Mark Geoghegan, Managing Director, The Insurance Insider
