Bermuda is set to attract hundreds of business visitors next week with the Island set to be the staging ground for two pivotal industry conferences.

On Sunday, the 16th annual Globalisation of Mutual Funds Conference kicks off its four-day event while the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) is holding its second annual 'Bermuda Perspective' symposium from Monday.

The PLUS 'Bermuda Perspective' symposium ? being held May 2 and 3 at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess ? is bound to grab attendance in the hundreds with its line-up of up some of the biggest names from the professional lines sector as well as the event's keynote speakers being two of America's best-known political personalities ? Mary Matalin and James Carville.

Ms Matalin and Mr. Carville, who married in 1993, drew a lot of attention as a high-profile partisan couple while still dating with both holding senior positions in the 1992 American presidential campaign.

The catch, of course, was that Ms Matalin, a staunch Republican, was working to get George H.W. Bush re-elected while Mr. Carville 'guided' Democrat hopeful Bill Clinton to presidential victory.

Although Clinton did not sweep the American vote in '92, he was the first Democratic candidate since 1976 to win the presidency.

Speaking with The Royal Gazette on Thursday, organiser of the PLUS 'Bermuda Perspective' symposium and senior vice-president and global professional lines manager for Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC), David Bell, said the 2005 symposium was expected to draw between 250 and 275 delegates.

Ms Matalin and Mr. Carville are scheduled to be the PLUS keynote speakers during the lunchtime session on Tuesday, May 3.

The PLUS symposium is now to be an annual event following the unexpected success of what could have been a one-off event last year.

Organisers had expected to attract about 75 to the Island for the 2004 PLUS symposium but were happily surprised to actually get about 240 attendees.

It isn't hard to see why last year's 240 would come flocking back and encourage more to attend this year with a two-day programme featuring political personalities as well as a stellar line-up of industry big names and a well-regarded securities specialist from Cornerstone Research, John Gould.

A heavyweight panel of senior executives from leading Bermuda companies Arch, AXIS, AWAC, ACE and XL are due to start the symposium off on Monday with "View from the top: What Bermuda CEOs know about professional liability that others may not".

And Tuesday's "Hurricane Spitzer ? Direct hit or glancing blow? What will the impact be on market share by dominant brokers? How will the regional brokers factor in? Where does Bermuda come out in the end?" should play to a packed room.

"It is so important that we capitalise on the pertinent topics facing the industry," Mr. Bell said, adding that the key aim was to provoke "real discussion, but in a professional way".

The Globalisation of Mutual Funds conference, which runs Sunday through Wednesday at the Fairmont Southampton, is designed to take fund professionals through a range of legal and business issues.

It is not known how many have registered for this year's conference but the event has attracted up to 400 attendees in years past.