Having recently returned from a research trip to NY, I was pleased to see Lilla Zuill's article entitled "Records: Bermuda ran up big bill lobbying US Congress" in the Wednesday, November 20, 2002 edition of The Royal Gazette. Pleased because while I was interviewing people in NY for a book I am currently working on for the insurance industry, the most recurrent topic, which arose, was the poor job Bermuda, including the international insurance industry, is doing with regards to our reputation in the US.

Much to my relief when I read this article, I determined for the first time that Bermuda is in fact doing something to preserve our image.

However, just lobbying the US Congress is not the answer to the image problem Bermuda currently has in the US.

There are still many people in the US who are ignorant about the benefits Bermuda provides to the international business sector globally.

We may think we are doing a good job in promoting Bermuda from here. But those outside of Bermuda, particularly those who are keenly interested in the Bermuda international business sector give us poor marks for our efforts.

What's worse is that the average American will listen to the rhetoric, which is being, bandied about by the US media and politicians alike about how Bermuda is really a tax haven.

They don't understand the role Bermuda has played in helping them keep jobs.

Some of Bermuda's large insurance corporations have expanded their platforms into other parts of the world by acquiring companies, which would not have survived otherwise.

In doing so, many average Americans have been able to keep their jobs and are paying taxes into the US economy.

If Bermuda's large corporations had not invested in ailing foreign companies, many of these people would be out of jobs.

These are pointers that we need to get across to the average American.

Maybe through a television documentary on the benefits of the international insurance industry in Bermuda.

This documentary should be light hearted and aimed at the average American and not just the sophisticated business executives who already understand the importance of Bermuda.

If we don't improve our image, many Americans may feel that Bermuda has become a bad word in the US and will therefore feel they do not want to fill our coffers any more by coming here for vacation.

They may begin to feel with the current Bermuda bashing going on that we are already taking enough of their hard-earned tax dollars by allowing tax evaders to set up here so they should not spend another dime with us.

We must do something to stop this trend and we must do it now.

The reason I decided to write about the feedback I was getting in New York is because this whole Bermuda bashing is not going away.

Every time we think the hype has gone away another war begins about Bermuda ruining the US economy.

The latest is the argument put forth by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), the largest pension fund programme in the US, that US companies, which have redomesticated to Bermuda, should be forced back to the US.

Now that the US government has all but stopped the idea of not allowing companies that headquarter outside the United States to be awarded government contracts, is the private sector trying now to take over? We should be gravely concerned about this effort by such an influential investment group in the US trying to throw its weight around at our expense.

Imagine if Calpers did manage to set a precedent by saying it will no longer invest in companies, which are domiciled outside the US, not just headquartered outside? What would the consequence of this action be on our economy? Why are we allowing a few companies, which have no real ties to the island, drag down the reputation, which many in the past worked so hard to build up? Can we afford in the long run to allow shell companies to headquarter here in this time of corporate governance issues and transparency?

The Calpers group is arguing that by these companies being headquartered in Bermuda, it is very difficult for the US judicial system to obtain information regarding the dealings of the CEOs.

Reading between the lines of the article printed in the Tuesday, November 19, 2002 edition of The Royal Gazette, "Offshore companies urged to return to US", Gina Keating briefly describes the fates of several of the companies who have chosen to redomesticate to Bermuda including McDermott facing huge losses as a result of poor offshore projects.

These descriptions seem to explain why these companies, trying to respond to shareholder demands, would look for ways to trim the fat of their expenses by seeking domiciles, which offer them the opportunity to remain competitive and in some cases remain in operation.

Yet the average person may overlook the big picture of a company's need to seek ways to remain competitive which will in turn keep her in a job and only see the emotional side of saying companies that move offshore are robbing them of their tax dollars.

If there were not a place like Bermuda in the world, which offered a friendly business environment, where would the bulk of companies be today? How many jobs would have been lost as a result?

We must do a better job in selling ourselves to the overseas markets.

We must attend more conferences, speak on as many panels as we can, continue to develop relationships with Washington and in general get to know our neighbours who used to consider us friends but now look upon us as foes.

We must change the "Bermuda is a tax haven" perception as quickly as possible if there is to be a chance of a future for our international business sector.

We cannot afford to be reactive anymore.

It is time we started looking at our future and mapping out strategies for where we want to be and how we can become more proactive in shaping our economic destiny.

Cathy Duffy is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and is now a freelance writer. She is a former executive of Zurich Global Energy and has 15 years experience in the insurance industry. She writes on insurance issues in The Royal Gazette every Monday. Feedback crduffycwbda.bm