A Bermuda-based hedge fund services company - HedgeWorld Limited - has shut its local office and staff have relocated to the US.

But this week company management maintained that the firm continued to have a "very modest" presence on the Island and limited representation through the office of a minority shareholder, Tremont (Bermuda) Ltd.

HedgeWorld founder and CEO Johann Wong denied reports reaching The Royal Gazette that the company had completely moved off the Island but said he could see how there could be that perception and admitted the firm had downsized its offices significantly: "We still have a presence, albeit minimal," he said.

Mr. Wong, who lived on the Island for nine years, relocated to the New York area late last year, a move that was said at the time to be for personal reasons. This week however Mr. Wong told The Royal Gazette, from his New York office, that it made sense for him and other staff to be in the New York area - the company has offices in White Plains, New York as well as in Chicago - as the majority of hedge fund managers are located in the tri-state New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area.

Mr. Wong said HedgeWorld, a provider of online hedge fund news and print publications as well as a company that raises capital for private hedge funds, went live in 1999 and despite its diminished Island presence, its parent company remained based in Bermuda as a legal entity. The Royal Gazette contacted Mr. Wong through the New York office of HedgeWorld after finding that the local telephone listing for the company was out of order. As for that line being disconnected, Mr. Wong said that was an "oversight, that should be corrected in a few days".

Mr. Wong confirmed that HedgeWorld had closed its office at Tremont House on Park Road and no longer had any dedicated, full-time Bermuda staff. However, he said that the company was still represented by staff at the Tremont (Bermuda) office, which has a "minority" stake in HedgeWorld.

When asked how significant Tremont's investment in the firm was, Mr. Wong said: "They are a minority investor, meaning less than 50 percent and more than five percent... it is a close and deep relationship," he said.

Mr. Wong was previously president of Tremont (Bermuda) Ltd., a company that provides investment funds tailored specifically for the insurance industry, but stepped down from that post in 1998 to become CEO of HedgeWorld.

Although HedgeWorld no longer holds its former office space at Tremont House on Park Road, from 1999 up to last year, Mr. Wong said the firm had had "about half a dozen full-time, dedicated staff" in that office.

He added: "Our smallest office always was in Bermuda but we still have a presence there (through Tremont). We are also working on several projects, I can't give details, but that may see us bring some business to Bermuda. We are definitely committed."

Mr. Wong added that Bermuda remained HedgeWorld's first choice of offshore domiciles, and that would continue unless there were adverse developments on the regulatory front.

Tremont (Bermuda) Ltd. referred telephone calls from The Royal Gazette to management at its parent company, Tremont Capital Management. Tremont Capital confirmed Tremont (Bermuda) Ltd.'s minority investment in HedgeWorld but said that neither of its two local staff represented HedgeWorld except to forward on telephone calls or mail received.