The new man in charge of Schroders' Bermuda office is aiming to double the revenue from the unit's private-equity servicing business by 2011 and also significantly boost its investment management business.

David Burns, who arrived from London to take the role about a month ago, conceded that private-equity funds had endured a difficult time in recent months, but that the downturn had created opportunities for those with cash in the bank.

And he also sees scope for increasing investment management business, particularly by attracting some of the Island's insurance and reinsurance companies as clients.

Private-equity investment is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. Institutional investors are the major providers of private-equity capital.

Schroders is a global asset management company managing about $158 billion, as of the end of last year. Its Bermuda office has an emphasis on private-equity investment.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr. Burns declared his intention to increase the profitability of the local operation, which employs around 50 people and is based at 131 Front Street.

The fluent Spanish speaker's previous experience included setting up Schroders' Madrid office from scratch and building it into a business with four billion euros of assets under management.

"I want to grow the revenue generation capacity of the Bermuda office," Mr. Burns said.

"In the private-equity servicing business, I want to increase the number of clients over the next two to three years and double the revenues by 2011.

"In the investment management business, I want us to do it much better and significantly increase the business we do in Bermuda. Asset management for insurance and reinsurance companies is a business I want to grow."

But employees need not be concerned that their new boss from London is coming in to crack the whip and work them to the point of misery. It is immediately apparent that Mr. Burns likes a laugh and he is hoping that attitude will be contagious.

"I want our employees to be happy about coming to work," Mr. Burns said."I think it helps to run an effective business when you have a nice atmosphere in the office. I want to see a sense of humour in the office.

"I know that I can't come here and run it just like the London office. I have to become part-Bermudian and take time to understand how it works here."

Mr. Burns sees the global downturn lasting for a few more months and suggests it might be sensible for people to stay in cash or bond funds for a while longer.

"I think the major markets will recover first, before the developing countries, and larger companies will recover before the small and medium-sized firms," Mr. Burns said.

"The markets tend to pre-empt an economic recovery and so if the recovery starts in the first quarter of 2010, then the markets may improve before the end of this year."

Schroders has had a presence in Bermuda for some 50 years. Mr. Burns said one of the Island's biggest advantages as a financial centre was that it's a nice place to live, which had helped to attract high-calibre professionals.