British funny man John Cleese will be in Bermuda as the featured speaker for the MAR/Hedge 9th International Conference on Hedge Fund Investments, being held from October 27 to 29 at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

The hotel will also host from the 8th International Conference on Offshore Funds from October 29 to 30. Best known for his antics in Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mr. Cleese is also an actor, writer, author, director and producer, and has founded a company that produces some of the world's most highly rated business training and motivation videos. He also writes books on the subject best characterised as The Meaning of Life.

Other speakers at the conference include Kenji Kodama of the Alternative Investment Group New Financial Markets Department for Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. Standard & Poor's vice president Peter Roffman will also be a featured speaker and will give a talk on balancing representation and investability when constructing a hedge fund index.

Seminars include topics covering assessing risk and accepting limits, the growing threat of US hedge fund regulation and selecting strategies to fit economic conditions. A day after the 9th International Conference on Hedge Funds, the 8th International Conference on Offshore Investments will cover aspects of offshore investments. Some of the topics discussed will be a comparative look at the US, UK and Luxembourg as well as developing strategies and structures for tax efficiency.