were encouraged by interest in Bermuda, the leading captive domicile.

Hosted last month in Florida by Skandia, Tillinghast and Business Insurance, the conference attracted some 350 people from 19 countries, including some 21 from Bermuda, the largest non-US contingent.

Many of the local delegates assisted with the new Bermuda booth and experienced the high interest in Bermuda as a captive domicile.

The conference attracted a large number of risk managers and service providers, and included brokers, underwriters, bankers and investment advisors.

Skandia International Risk Management senior vice president, marketing, Robert J. Rosser said, "We (Bermuda participants) were the largest contingent there, followed by Panama, which has just enacted legislation making it the first Spanish-speaking captive domicile in the world.

"There were topical discussions at the conference. And a two hour opening session on captive basics by Skandia and Tillinghast was standing room only.

"There were topics from health care to reinsurance and fronting, and an interesting one called the entrepreneurial approach to captives, and a very good session on rent-a-captives.'' Latin America is a new frontier for captive insurance companies with deregulation in the region. One third of those attending the conference came from outside the US, including a number from Latin America.

Registrar of Companies, Kymn Astwood, said, "Bermuda had a very strong presence at this conference, which I feel personally is a very good thing. The foundation of the Bermuda insurance industry has been the captives.

"Over the years we've seen the development of our market with professional insurance and reinsurance companies flourishing. But we can't forget our roots. The captives laid the foundation for the world class insurance market that we have today.

"At the conference, we received a number of enquiries from individuals seeking to form captives in Bermuda. What's encouraging is that right now, the insurance industry worldwide is faced with a soft market. But we still see a very strong interest in the captive field.'' BUSINESS BUC