If a guy comes in here with rolled up change and he has the intention to invest, I will do it for him."

This is the no holds barred approach to help Bermudians confidently invest their money offered by Maximum Financial Limited, (Maximum) a new Bermuda investment management company looking to rock the boat of traditional money managing by offering Bermudians a no-nonsense approach to investing.

"Our greatest asset is our clients trust," is the slogan of Maximum which was set up in October by, among others, chairman and chief operating officer Paul Comesky who spoke with The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"The core reason for Maximum Financial starting was to protect the people of Bermuda," said Mr. Comesky.

Having worked on New York's Wall Street for more than a decade, and in the Bermuda market, Mr. Comesky said the most important thing he learned was that the first priority must be the client.

Maximum aims to become the flagship full service investment firm in Bermuda by connecting the Island's investment with Wall Street's New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the American Exchange (AMEX).

"We are bridging the gap from Bermuda to Wall Street," said Mr. Comesky.

Maximum Financial's flagship product is the S&P five star rated US Dollar Floating Rate Fund which has the objective of high current income consistent with the preservation of capital, liquidity and NAV stability through the investment in US Government Agency Mortgage Backed Securities.

Maximum's executive board reads like a who's who of the Bermuda investment scene including president Charles Hollis, vice president Lloyd Roberts, senior partners Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb (pictured above), Lauren Adcock and David Beale and chief financial officer Jonathan Davies. Maximum account executive Kevin De Silva said the modern financial markets demanded a new breed of investment managers and added: "Investing is changing and it is important that people change with the times." He said traditionally investors were sold on mutual funds that they should hold for five years with little management. However, Mr. Comesky said in the new realm of long term investing, assets needed to be managed every day and that "long term" had been used as an excuse for poor performance. "Long term investing is fine as long as you have proper management."

"Adapt with the times or get left behind," added Mr. De Silva.

Maximum Financial also aims to educate people in ways they can understand rather than befuddling them with jargon. Part of the educational initiative will be a "no nonsense" investment seminar which will be held at the Hamilton Princess on July 3, at 5.30 p.m. that is sure to be lively, fun and educational. Service is the name of the game for Maximum and Mr. Comesky said brokers can be contacted 24 hours a day if need be. "We are raising the benchmark for what the financial industry should be doing for their clients," said Mr. Comesky. He also said that one of the firm's core values was "complete and total transparency."

Maximum itself has an open-door policy in the office and all employees are shareholders, so that all employees have an equal stake in ensuring the success of the company. "I don't want workers, I want partners," said Mr. Comesky. Maximum has established a relationship with Bishop, Rosen & Co., Inc. in New York, a member of the NYSE, which is a fully disclosed account of Wexford Clearing Services Corp. that has given Maximum the ability to access all products and services that are typically used by large financial institutions.

"There is nothing that you could achieve in a financial capital such as New York that we can't get or do," said Mr. Comesky who said Maximum has traded not only in the US but also around the world.

Maximum also believes in the value of training young Bermudians and Mr. Comesky said: "We believe that our success will be measured by our most important factor: `The human equation.' Opportunity plus training plus supportive management equals success."

Maximum senior partner and Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb is very excited about the new company and said yesterday: "The vision of the firm is to set it apart from what we already have here in Bermuda and draw on some of the relationships we have with Wall Street."

Ms Webb said of the Maximum's evolution: "The key partners were brought together as a consequence of Maxwell Roberts, which is why when we were coming up with the name I said name it Maximum Financial." Ms Webb said that Mr. Maxwell - one of the founders of First Bermuda Securities - had a vision for helping young Bermudians get into the business but died before he could realise his dream. As a friend, Ms Webb and Mr. Comesky were bought together, and said: "We finally bit the bullet last year and we are now off and running." Heralding a new era of investing in Bermuda, Mr, Comesky said: "People in this industry had better get eyes in the back of their head because if you can't keep up, you are going to get left behind."