The BDA will join Bermuda trust industry experts at the Step Asia Conference in Singapore this week, building on the Island’s long-time links with business from the East.

The November 11 to 12 conference, hosted by the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (Step), attracts some 500 delegates annually including lawyers, accountants and other trust and private client specialists. This year’s sessions focus on key topics affecting the wealth-management industry, from the increased need for regulatory compliance to cross-border issues and legal updates on issues such as family dispute resolution and succession planning.

Sean Moran, BDA business development manager for the trust sector, will attend the event with representatives of Butterfield Trust and Meritus Trust.

“Some delegates from Bermuda-based firms have attended in previous years, but this is the first time the BDA has sent a delegation to Step Asia,” Mr Moran said.

“We will have prominent branding and high visibility in all the conference materials and noted recognition by the organisers. Our team will represent the jurisdiction as a whole, and raise Bermuda’s profile among the many international practitioners and advisers in attendance.”

The conference ties into a ramp-up of the BDA’s business development strategy into Asia.

A recently published Step Journal Bermuda supplement supported by the BDA, Step Bermuda, and the Bermuda Association of Licensed Trustees (BALT), highlights the historic relationship between the Island and Asia, describing how “a new generation of Asian families and corporations are discovering the Island’s advantages”.

The issue includes articles by local trust experts, a welcome by BDA CEO Ross Webber, and an introduction by Premier Michael Dunkley — in both English and Chinese.

The trust industry’s visit to Singapore follows a roadshow led by the BDA last month to Step LatAm in São Paulo, Brazil. The Bermuda team included seven representatives who attended the conference, as well as more than a dozen meetings during the five-day trip.

“Team Bermuda had an excellent showing in Brazil,” Mr Moran said. “Before the conference even began, we had conducted ten meetings with leading law firms in São Paulo and updated them on the advantages of doing business with Bermuda.

“During the two-day conference itself, the BDA booth saw a lot of traffic. People were interested in learning more about how Bermuda’s various trust, fund, and insurance products could be utilised to enable business solutions. Also, I think the fact we were dressed in bright-coloured Bermuda shorts might have been an additional attraction!”