EY partner: Business is robust for Bda

Ernst & Young’s new senior partner, Pete Cangany, is bullish on Bermuda.

It was announced last week that Mr Cangany would replace Gil Tucker in that position, who will become chairman of EY on July 1.

He told the Bermuda Sun he enjoys the island community as “the people are friendly, the community is very welcoming”. 

He feels things are turning around in the local economy and will only get better as the year moves on.

“The business environment is good and I think is getting more robust. 

“Our client list is growing and there’s a lot of new money being put to work here in the community. There are new companies starting up, there are additional products and services being offered so it’s not just from an audit perspective, but there are some advisory services as well. 

“We help our clients navigate through some of the changes they’re going through. It’s nice to partner up with them and help them achieve their success. 

Mr Cangany said he will build upon the strong foundation left by Mr Tucker.

“I will be able to leverage off of Gil’s relationships. When I was in the Seattle office, I ran our insurance practices in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest areas of our regions. I have some perspective as to what worked well. We’re listening to what our clients want as well as to what Ernst & Young has to offer. It’s a matter of matching up their needs with what resources that we have.”

“The great thing is the relationships Gil has within the business community — People that I read about in the Sun, but I’ve never met. From that perspective, it’s very valuable to have Gil around. As Gil goes through in this chairman role, it won’t be just delegation. We have a distributed leadership model so all the partners can own that.

“We’ll be able to leverage off of Gil’s experience. Gil’s always going to be active in the market strengthening the EY brand — even after he ultimately retires, whenever that is. Gil will still be a great spokesperson for the firm. 

He said EY has plenty of talent in the Bermuda office. 

“We stay up to speed on the current issues that are impacting the markets in the industries that we serve. That way we are able to provide additional insights with the two big markets that Bermuda deals with — New York and London.”

Mr Cangany added business is growing for a couple of reasons in Bermuda. 

“There are some business leaders who have taken on some new positions on the island who are pro-Bermuda. 

“From that perspective, it is going to create a lot of additional growth in the insurance industry. 

“The business community has been good about trying to grow asset management business on the island. This is an area, which is going to probably to result in a lot of benefit to the local economy.”

He added the renewed sense of optimism in tourism would also provide growth opportunities. Mr Cangany said while it may seem that growth is slow “there are a lot of things being done. The new Bermuda Tourism Authority is attracting some new things to the island, which is all additive. It’s like anything — it starts off slow and builds. We’re going to see a huge difference three to five years from now.” n