investment manager E.T. (Bob) Richards is going independent again.

Mr. Richards yesterday said Bermuda Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) has terminated its affiliation with Invesco. The decision was reached by "mutual agreement'', he said.

"It was time for us to do our own thing,'' he said. "We had parts of our businesses in different locations and in order to get the type of synergies we wanted we had a hard look and decided to go back to being independent.'' BAM will now be a wholly-owned Bermudian company. A family-owned holding company, The Richards Financial Group Ltd., has been formed to own and control the principal operating companies BAM, GulfStream Financial Ltd., and Bermuda Information Technology Services Ltd.

BAM, Invesco announce split Mr. Richards, the former UBP Senate Leader, took over GulfStream from Carolyn Hall after he began legal proceedings against the firm. The dispute was settled out of court.

Bermuda Information Technology is a software consulting firm which primarily targets companies in the insurance industry.

GulfStream and Bermuda Information Technology will move to the current BAM's premises at the Rosebank Building on Bermudiana Road in Hamilton. The Invesco operation, which has two staff on the Island, is in the process of looking for new office space.