International Captives Congress which kicks off today at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

Hundreds of delegates have jetted in for the week-long conference which is aimed at risk management professionals and is a guide to the formation and ownership of captives.

Last night delegates were due to be welcomed with an ICAP reception hosted by the Marketing Committee of the Insurance Advisory Committee and the Bermuda Insurance Management Association at the Southampton Princess.

Today Roger Gillett, senior vice president of ACE Insurance Co and Chairman of ICAP, is due to welcome the delegates at 1 p.m. before introducing the Premier.

Ms Smith is due to talk for half an hour, with a short introduction to Bermuda and the insurance and reinsurance worlds, before the delegates go to their first talk of the day entitled "In what direction will e-commerce take the captives industry?'' Mr. Gillett is one of eight professionals on the ICAP advisory board who have helped set the agenda for the day.

Mr. Gillett, who is a native of the UK, with Bermudian status, is a leading light in the insurance world with a long proven track record in the insurance world.

He is joined on the panel by Bermudian Alan Cossar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd and is the executive director for Bermuda and the Caribbean region.

Also on the list is US tax and insurance expert, Jim Blankenship, the partner in charge of the Tax Department of KPMG and Michael Hardy, the Vice President of the Bermuda Insurance Management Association (BIMA) and director of the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA).

Joining them on the board are Judy Lindenmayer, of Fidelity Investments in Boston, Matt Damsker, editor in chief of Risk & Insurance magazine, Tom Jones, of US law firm McDermott, Will & Emry and Tom Kendall of J&H Marsh & McLennan Inc.

One of the biggest pulls for the conference is on Wednesday, when a Brainstorming Breakfast is being held with a round table discussion on topics such as captive development, management and ownership.

This will be followed by the keynote address by David Zach, author of the bestselling book Zachronyms.

He will be attempting to answer the question `where do we go from here' in relation to captives. Mr. Zach will be highlighting the dangers and opportunities open to the risk managers of today and tomorrow.

Mr. Zach is a professionally trained futurist and will speak about technology, business, education, society and `how to think outside your box'.

Mr. Zach, through his company Innovative Futures, works with 80 businesses, schools and associations each year to help them understand how to think about the future, change and continuity and how to make choices about them.

On Thursday the big topic for the day for many visiting delegates is `State Tax and Regulatory Issues for Captives: What You Need to Know.'' The sessions finish on Thursday morning with a case study of a captive entitled `A tale of two captives' followed by a discussion on Lloyds and ending up with a wrap-up panel discussion.

BUSINESS BUC