Bermuda-based insurers and reinsurers is part of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) overall strategy in developing its stake in the sector, chief executive officer William Woods said yesterday.

He was speaking by telephone from London where the FTSE/BSX index was launched with a briefing to ten insurance analysts and 20 journalists. The index will appear in The Royal Gazette BSX chart tomorrow, in the Financial Times, Reuters and on Bloomberg.

The insurance index was created by FTSE International -- a company owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. The is based on the stock market performance of the companies. It is designed to help investors make performance comparisons between insurance companies operating in Bermuda with those based in the US and Europe.

Mr. Woods said analysts were receptive to the index. About half said they were more concentrated on UK and European equities. The rest indicated they were interested in the global insurance market.

"I'm encouraged about the market development and that Bermuda is considered as a part of that global market,'' Mr. Woods said. "The index will help focus their interest... Over the next few years analysts will be much more sector focussed rather than geographic focussed.'' The BSX has already licensed the index to a local joint venture between Mutual Risk Management and Kast Investment Management which is in the process of creating a mutual fund.

The BSX hopes to licence the index to an options contract setup over the next nine months.

As part of its strategy to market products based on the insurance industry the BSX is working on listing risk securitisation products including catastrophe bonds. In the cards is the setup of a electronic risk exchange. On his way back to Bermuda Mr. Woods is stopping off in New York to wrap up an agreement with Catastrophe Risk Exchange Inc. to create CATEX International. Members will be able to cede, exchange, or purchase risk on the CATEX system.

The BSX is also part of the Bermuda Insurance Data Service (BIDS). The joint venture will be an Internet-based system to help secure transmission and tracking of submissions from brokers to reinsurance companies in the Bermuda market.

Mid Ocean Re, La Salle Re, Renaissance Re, IPC Re, Terra Nova Re, Microstate Corp., Logic Communications Ltd. are also partners in BIDS.