A new Island company, IQ Bermuda Ltd. (IQB), has targeted Bermuda's insurance businesses as potential software clients, according to the company's managing partner Mr. Matthew McAndrew.

IQB, a computer software systems integration company, focuses on document management and large-scale information retrieval systems.

"There is a market in Bermuda for this type of product...we (already) have XL Insurance Company Ltd. as a client,'' said Mr. McAndrew.

The company, which converts paper documents to saved images is a useful tool for Bermuda's insurance companies, according to Mr. McAndrew.

The benefits range from "re-engineering'' office documentation to better use of floor space.

"The real pay-off comes from the re-engineering of the system but businesses in New York have justified huge amounts of money for this software just to create more floor space,'' he concluded.

"We feel we can build in the (insurance) business, Bermuda is a centre for insurance,'' added Mr. McAndrew, who is from Ireland but resides in Oakville, Ontario.

IQB was incorporated as a Bermuda company six months ago but only this month moved into the operational stage and is currently advertising for a managing director and a senior systems engineer.

The company is 40-percent owned by InteleQ Inc., based in Great Falls, Virginia, a software company started four years ago by Mr. McAndrew. InteleQ, which employs 25 people, has annual sales around $5.5 million and clients include several US commercial and financial companies, two legal firms and two universities, as well as US government agencies.

Mr. Philip Cooper, managing director of Bermuda Microsystems, a privately-held Bermuda company now applying to incorporate as a limited company, is affiliated with the IQB. Bermuda Microsystems is involved with some administrative tasks associated with the start-up of IQB but once this is complete the two will operate independently, he said. IQB concentrates on computer software designed to run in different computer hardware environments while Bermuda Microsystems is a computer hardware retailer.