Bermuda's large Portuguese-speaking population was seen as an advantage at an investment summit in Brazil last week.

The Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) and its delegation of international business executives participated in the Alternative Investment Summit Brazil 2008.

The summit focused on Brazil's growing alternative investment industry and was designed to provide asset managers, high net worth individuals and their advisers with critical information on the range of services and investment opportunities. The Bermuda delegation attended panel discussions, participated in events and networked among more than 500 attendees at the summit.

Speaking from the summit, Ms Packwood said: "The events were an ideal opportunity to differentiate Bermuda from other offshore jurisdictions and build relationships in Brazil with local fund managers and the broader alternative investment industry while underscoring the pivotal role that Bermuda can play in capitalising on Brazil's new regulations governing international investments.

"Particularly impressive to the attendees was the fact that Bermuda's Portuguese heritage allows a unique ease for Brazilians to conduct business in their native language.

"They were also pleased to see BIBA's collateral material had been translated into Portuguese and also, Spanish for the other Latin American attendees."

BIBA was platinum sponsor, co-partnering with Credit Suisse.