The Julius Baer Group to help build its portfolio management and investment advisory service.

ROM was set up a year ago by former Bank of Bermuda executive Mr. Donald Manuel as an international asset management company.

The Julius Baer Group is one of Switzerland's leading private banks.

ROM will market investment services to insurers and pension funds, institutional and private clients.

Mr. Heinrich Looser, member of the management committee of Bank Julius Baer, has been on the Island and met this week with officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

"This is the first time we've had an association with someone in Bermuda,'' said Mr. Looser. "We are proud of it because it is a market that we'd never tapped, directly or indirectly. We believe that this is a strategic decision and an avenue for further growth. By having somewhere here, we from the Julius Baer network group may also provide clients to the company. It's going to be a proactive effort.'' Bank Julius Baer has assets under administration of $40 billion.

Mr. Manuel said: "This is an exploratory trip for Henry, getting him accustomed to how we do business in Bermuda. It's nice to know we have his support, because he is a member of the management team at the head office and globally at Bank Julius Baer.

"His larger responsibilities have him in charge of all the world wide private banking activities for the group. They operate in very similar jurisdictions as the indigenous banks here, Hong Kong, The Caymans and the Channel Islands.

"If I had aligned myself with a US entity, their focus is often more insular or geared toward North America. Julius Baer, on the other hand, is a very prestigious organisation and a global player.

"And, instead of my company building up a huge infrastructure here, we've agreed to use a personal computer to keep me in touch with Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd., New York Branch.'' Mr. Manuel has developed much experience in trust, banking and international investment over the past 30 years. For 17 years he was with the Bank of Bermuda and during that period he held the position of managing director of the bank's Hong Kong subsidiary, Bermuda Trust (Far East) Ltd. as well as Bermuda Finance (Far East) Ltd. and MIL (Far East) Ltd.

Prior to leaving the bank in November 1993, he was directly responsible for private banking, which encompassed the bank's investment and personal asset management divisions.

Before joining the bank, he held senior positions with several leading US brokerage institutions both in London and New York, specialising in cross border and domestic investment fund management for international institutional clients.

Zurich-based Mr. Looser said Bank Julius Baer is now in the key offshore markets. He said: "We are in Guernsey, Cayman and now here. We do not want to be in all of the offshore markets, just the credible ones. This is a really credible market for us, here, for Julius Baer, considering we are such a conservative institution.

"We've been around for 105 years and we don't just go to any place. So Bermuda does qualify for sure.

"We would get added volume from this arrangement, added through put.'' Mr. Manuel said: "The focus now is to build up the profile and so I will have to get out and travel. By September, I hope to have someone else at an executive level to hold down the fort while I'm traveling, together with probably two clerical workers. I don't want to have a whole lot of staff.

That's the beauty of the arrangement with Julius Baer.'' The two firms signed agreements appointing Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. in New York as sub advisor and custodian for ROM's investment management and advisory clients.

"The technical support agreement,'' said Mr. Manuel, "allows me to talk to their portfolio managers, allows me to get the securities transactional activities from their trading desk, their foreign exchange desk, and most important is their global custodian facilities.

"I also have access to research from London, Frankfurt and New York.'' Mr. Donald Manuel