Expanding the investment funds sector offers Bermuda the chance of further international business growth without adding substantially to the strain on the Island's stretched infrastructure.

That is the view of Cheryl Packwood, chief executive officer of the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA), who was in the Middle East last week promoting Bermuda as a funds base and who will be continuing those efforts in Europe this week.

"The funds industry is good sector for us to grow, because it is not a labour-intensive industry and does not put unnecessary pressure on the infrastructure," Ms Packwood said.

"It is a big concern for Bermuda, how we can continue to grow our economy, but not pressure our infrastructure, such as our housing, schools and roads. The investment funds sector is one area we can do this."

She pointed out that Bermuda had more than 2,000 investment funds of various types, with an impressive $210 billion in assets under management. And the Island strengthened its infrastructure and clarity of legislation for the sector with the passing of the Investment Funds Act last year.

But how does Bermuda benefit from a fund setting up on the Island?

"The Island gets registration fees and its service providers get their fees," Ms Packwood said. "Then there is administration of those funds — there are 70 or more fund administrators in Bermuda."

Last week, Ms Packwood, together with Greg Wojciechowski, chief executive officer of the Bermuda Stock Exchange, and other Island representatives attended the GAIM (Global Alternative Investment Management) Middle East conference in Dubai. From tomorrow through Thursday, they will be attending the GAIM Europe conference in Geneva.

Inbetween hedge fund conferences, Ms Packwood is in Paris, where she and the delegation will meet representatives of international business operators, including accountancy giant Deloitte, international law firm Linklaters and international insurance brokers Gras Savoye.

Accompanying Ms Packwood and Mr. Wojciechowski in Paris are two prominent lawyers from the London offices of Bermuda-based law firms — Warren Cabral, a corporate attorney with Appleby, and Ed Stone, who specialises in trusts for CD&P.

Ms Packwood said the Dubai conference had allowed the group to spread the word about Bermuda to delegates from all over the world who had come to learn more about Dubai's rapid development as an important financial centre and as a bridge between East and West.

For the most part, she added, Bermuda has a good reputation as a jurisdiction, but there are still those with a different impression.

"We do meet people who don't know Bermuda at all and who lump us in with 'dodgy tax havens'," Ms Packwood said. "It's part of our job to dispel those myths.

"One gentleman from the Gulf states said he thought Bermuda was 'one of those places where you show up with a bag of drug money to hide it'. I told him that was not us. One of the hand-outs we carry with us deals with those misconceptions. He was very happy with what we told him."