BIAS opens office in Cayman Islands
Its initial plan to set up a base further south was hampered by the devastation wreaked on the Cayman Islands by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
However, BIAS persevered and obtained a licence to operate in the Caymans last October.
As reported in The Royal Gazette in December, the company has launched a family of mutual funds aimed at simplifying investment choices for businesses and high net worth individuals.
Registered in the Caymans, the BIAS Global Portfolios SPC offer asset allocation packages tailored to satisfy the risk profiles of institutional and high net worth clients, the company said at the time.
The funds are a Short Duration Income Fund, a Global Balanced Fund and a Global Equities Fund.
The recovery of the Cayman Islands’ economy after the damage caused by category three Hurricane Ivan and the increasing number of professionals based there, seeking independent investment advice, are two key reasons why Par-la-Ville Road-based BIAS has gone ahead with its secondary base in one of Bermuda’s rival jurisdictions.
So says BIAS director Mark Melvin, who has also taken note of Cayman’s ever growing business sector and the increasing demand for independent investment advice and services.
The company incorporated in Bermuda in 1991, offering services that were not generally available outside of the main banks. A similar situation now exists in Cayman he believes, and notes there are more Captive Insurance managers, Private Client Trust managers, and Corporate managers now based in the jurisdiction.
Mr. Melvin has stated that BIAS was always aware of what was going on in other offshore financial centres and while it is continuing to grow in Bermuda it is looking at opportunities further afield.
Cayman’s friendly rivalry and large and developed financial sector has proven an obvious fit. BIAS’ new office is in George Town, Grand Cayman.
