on both sides of the Atlantic following the `Rendez-Vous de Septembre' trade conference in Monte Carlo earlier this month.

Both London-based Lloyd's List and Business Insurance, of the US, have, over the past few weeks, devoted hundreds of column inches on how the Island's almost meteoric growth rate as a domicile this year was highlighted at the conference.

According to Business Insurance, which is the `Bible' of the US insurance industry: "Bermuda was the toast of Monte Carlo.

"Nearly every conversation at the 37th Rendez-Vous de Septembre eventually turned to what by week's end was a most familiar question: What do you know about the Bermuda catastrophic reinsurers.'' Bermuda's reinsurance executives "were the most popular people at the gathering'' gushed one BI article.

So popular, in fact, that "lines formed around them at cocktail parties and receptions'', according to BI. "That was fine with the Bermuda executives, who relished the chance to dispel rumours spread by competitors that the companies already were slashing prices or would not be in business for long,'' said the article.

Stories in a similar vein have been running in Lloyd's List, which has been saturating its pages with Bermuda-linked stories for almost six months now and ran several Bermuda-related articles during Rendez-Vous.

Even before the conference began, Lloyd's List's insurance editor Mr. Edward Ion said that he had been told by industry executives the Bermuda party in Monte Carlo would be "the highlight of the event''.

Bermuda property catastrophe reinsurance executives who attended the event said yesterday that virtually everyone at the conference was aware of the new importance of the Island's market.

"Bermuda was almost the centrepiece of the conference,'' said Mr. James Bryce, senior vice president of AIG's new property catastrophe reinsurer, IPC Re.

"The capacity coming back to Bermuda has breathed new life into the industry and everyone is fully aware of that.

"At the beginning of the year there was so much doom and gloom in the industry: business was unplaceable, brokers didn't have any income and their clients did not have protection.

"Now there's capacity, clients can be satisfied and brokers will continue to be needed to place business.

"It's brought back a very positive light to the business.'' Some in the industry speculated that much of the new capital in Bermuda would flee once the shortage of capacity was filled and companies started lowering their premiums in order to compete.

Their speculation was fuelled by a comment from M. Jacques Blondeau, president of SCOR, who said the firm's new Bermuda-based property catastrophe reinsurer, Compass Re, may not be around for long.

"What we have said to investors is that we are organising the company for five years,'' he told BI.

"At the end of five years, we will reassess the situation -- whether we want to stay in this business or move on to something else.

"At this stage, we do not believe in what some of our competitors are saying, which is that when the market turns we will turn the company into a `normal' reinsurance company.

"We don't think there is enough technical expertise in Bermuda to run a `normal' reinsurance company.'' But Mr. Bryce told The Royal Gazette that he was confident most of the new capital in Bermuda was here for the long run.

"If it's really intelligent capacity in Bermuda, I cannot see why it will not last a long time.

"I was disappointed at people making these projections. why don't we just let these companies run with their business plans and see how they turn out.

"It's rather negative to speculate how long a company will be here when it's only just been formed. Different businesses have different plans.

"Let's see how they operate before we reach into the future. There will be winners and losers.

"We should be focusing on how Bermuda has given such a boost to London and the world market in terms of providing additional capacity.'' One local executive who went to Monte Carlo detected "a certain amount of professional jealousy'' towards Bermuda from other jurisdictions.

Bermuda's Registrar of Companies, Mr. Malcolm Butterfield, who did not attend the Rendez-Vous, which is traditionally not an event for regulators, said: "These companies coming here are well capitalised and have indicated their commitment to the business plans they have filed.

"Because of the nature of their business, they are prepared to stay in for as long as it takes to make their organisations work.'' He said he had heard industry rumours of people trying to raise capital to form even more companies in Bermuda and said he was "optimistic'' for the industry's future.

He added: "From a regulatory perspective, it makes us more mindful of our insurance regulations and how effective and flexible they must be, requiring an even more vigilant approach to existing provisions under the Insurance Act.'' Mr. Don Kramer, chairman of Tempest Re, said that "Bermuda were the stars'' of Monte Carlo.

"This even brought Bermuda to the critical mass as a serious marketplace,'' he said.

Of his own company, he said: "We're not here to play around. We're serious.'' He added: "We're not what they used to call naive capacity. We're going to be serious and do our homework. If the market's not right we might back off a bit.'' Historically, the property catastrophe market had been "an adjunct to other business people wrote'', he said.

"The industry's become much more specialised,'' he added. "That will lead to more of an industry which has companies which take a very large risk but very small amounts of it in proportion to their capital.''