reputation in the US.

Preston Hutchings, senior vice president and chief investment officer at RenaissanceRe Holdings, wrote a strongly-worded letter of repudiation to Barron's, the Wall Street Journal's weekend publication.

The move came following the publication of detrimental remarks about Bermuda in its January 22 edition.

The article, written by Michael Santoli and entitled Fund of Information, referred to W.P. Stewart's listing on the stock exchange as breaking with "the hush-hush conventions of the offshore money management business''.

Mr. Santoli said it led to the "arching of eyebrows'' if a preserver of wealth and protector of privacy "turns against this ethic of moneyed discretion'' by becoming a publicly evaluated entity''.

But the perceived offence came with the following sentence which referred to Bermuda as "one of those beach trimmed islands that seem to exist solely as cruise-ship ports and domiciles for numbered bank accounts''.

Mr. Hutchings responded robustly to these comments in a letter to Barron's which was published on January 29.

He wrote: "Michael Santoli's characterisation of Bermuda as an island that seems to exist solely as a cruise ship port and domicile for numbered bank accounts is extremely inept.

"First, to the very best of my knowledge, no bank in Bermuda provides numbered accounts. Moreover, Bermuda's three banks adhere to very strict standards that are intended to defeat any attempt to use the Island's banks to launder money or evade taxes.

"Second, although Bermuda is indeed a popular tourist destination, its international business sector contributes much more to the Island's economy.

New York Stock Exchange listed insurance organisations such as ACE, XL, Capital, PartnerRe and RenaissanceRe as having their headquarters here.

Others, such as AIG, have substantial operations here. Many Fortune 500 companies have captive insurers here. As an insurance and reinsurance locale, Bermuda competes head-on with London and New York/Hartford. Indeed Bermuda may be the domicile of choice for de novo insurance companies.

"Should Santoli wish to visit Bermuda in order to determine the inaccuracy of his characterisation, I would be happy to provide him with advice on where to stay, whom to visit and how to get here -- because cruise ships don't visit the island during the winter.'' Preston Hutchings BUSINESS BUC