The Bermuda Stock has approved the listing of the BIAS Global Portfolios.

BIAS Global Portfolios (the Fund) was incorporated in the Cayman Islands as an open-ended mutual fund company and four classes of the family of funds.

They are the US$ Segregated Portfolios of the BIAS Global Equities Fund; the BIAS Global Balanced Fund; the BIAS Global Dividend Income Fund; and the BIAS Short Duration Income Fund.

The Fund is offered and managed by Bermuda Investment Advisory Services (BIAS).

Its purpose is to provide investors with the opportunity to invest in one or more professionally managed portfolios in order to achieve an optimum return from the capital invested, a statement said yesterday.

For this purpose, the Fund offers several classes of shares, each of which has a distinct investment objective.

Greg Wojciechowski, President and CEO of the BSX said after yesterday’s launch: “BIAS were anxious to show support for Bermuda, and so sought the listing on the BSX. We’re delighted to have them.”

Speaking at the launch, he said: “On behalf of the BSX, I would like to congratulate BIAS on the approval of its Fund’s BSX listing and am delighted to welcome another Bermuda investment company’s family of funds to the BSX.

“Despite the economic challenges we currently face, the BIAS funds are an excellent example of the vibrancy and depth of the Bermuda investment advisory industry and they are in good company, joining over 300 prestigious fund structures which have chosen the BSX as their listing venue.”

Appleby Securities sponsored the listing, and Mr Wojciechowski pointed to the role they played: “They made sure the listing application is in order — they become a conduit for us and the listing company.”

Mr Mark Melvin, COO and director of BIAS, said: “We are extremely pleased to have brought the four classes of the BIAS Global Portfolios, SPC to list on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

“The support and assistance of the BSX Officers ensured that this was a very smooth exercise. All of the four classes of BIAS funds have been listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange since inception and the intention has always been to list the funds on the BSX thereafter to show our support for Bermuda, Bermuda’s capital markets and the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

“We have participated in the BSX’s securities depository since its inception and we look forward to deepening our relationship with the Bermuda Stock Exchange in the years to come.”

Mr Wojciechowski, speaking later, described the BSX and its role in Bermuda. “We see it as Bermuda’s national exchange. It is our country’s exchange,” he said, and emphasised that the BSX is an important part of the whole community’s fabric, describing a stock exchange as ‘the plumbing’ for the financial services of a country, involved with all aspects of it.

“We touch the regulatory side, the fund industry, the insurance industry, we work with lawyers and accountants, with local companies and banks.

“We are like a utility — we are the place for the domestic capital market.”