The list of attendees for the Bermuda Insurance Symposium II is "international'', said the conference's project coordinator.

"Response to this year's symposium has been overwhelming. We have an international cast about to attend,'' said Ms Suzie McKeegan.

The symposium, the second of its kind in Bermuda, has attracted 480 attendees from Bahrain to Belgium and Australia to Costa Rica and from Canada to the Channel Islands.

Ms McKeegan estimated about one-third of the attendees will hail from Bermuda.

Insurance business people from 14 countries will be at the four-day event which gets underway Tuesday with a golf tournament at Marriott's Castle Resort Harbour to benefit the Angus Robinson Jr. Memorial Foundation.

Speakers include Finance Minister the Hon. Dr. David Saul, Dr. John Paling, Dr. Jane Fulton and Lloyd's Chairman Mr. David Rowland.

Dr. Paling will take an amusing look at risk while Dr. Fulton will discuss health reform.

The only change to the printed programme is that Mr. Rowland will speak on Thursday at 12.30 p.m. not at 9.30 a.m. on Friday.

And 16 different media and insurance trade publications will cover the conference, which includes a trade show double the size of the first symposium held two years ago, said Ms McKeegan.

Among the media and industry publications will ne representatives from; The Financial Times, Insurance Weekly, Risk Management, Reactions Magazine, Corporate Cover, Lloyd's List, Assecuranz Compass, Reuter and L'Argus.

Thirty-two of the attendees will be media while over 40 panelists will discuss various insurance-related topics.

Panel topics include: Global regulatory trends; Global warming; The property catastrophe market in Bermuda; A financial reinsurance update; Derivative risk; Captives; Risk management innovations; and Excess liability and D&O.

SYMPOSIUM SET -- The efforts of Bermuda Insurance Symposium committee members have resulted in an international cast of attendees for the event which gets underway on Tuesday with a golf tournament at Castle Harbour to benefit the Angus Robinson Jr. Memorial Foundation. From left to right, Ms Suzie McKeegan, Mr. Jim Ansaldi, Mr. Arthur (Pell) Price, Mr. William Loschert, Mr. Robin Spencer-Arscott, Mr. Robert Rosser, Ms Kathryn McIntyre, Mr. Jonathan Crawley, and Mr. Henry Keeling. Mr. Malcolm Butterfield is absent from photo.