Company unveiling new pension products that they emphasised will provide far greater yield than existing pension plans in the Bermuda market.

It comes just a day after the Bank of Bermuda jumped into Bermuda's lucrative pensions game, in advance of new pension requirements pending from government.

G. Kirkham Kitson, president of Kitson & Co. Ltd., made it clear though that Bermudians deserve better investment choices for their pensions than in the past, in line with government's thinking on pension reform.

He was confident that his firm, which is a small pension provider with $15 million in assets under management, will grow a much bigger share of the market when firms and their employees compare Kitson's new pension product with others on the Island.

Kitson's new scheme, Retirement Plus, is being offered through Kitson's association with Canadian-based Crown Life Insurance Co. and Vontobel USA, a sister company to the venerable Bank J. Vontobel & Co. Ltd. of Zurich, Switzerland.

It provides options for pension schemes that could triple the yield of current pension plans in Bermuda.

Mr. Kitson said yesterday, "I think that we will be able to offer a more sophisticated service than our competitors, because of our link with Crown Life in terms of administration and the link with Vontobel, because what they have to offer in terms of asset allocation is excellent. I suspect that we will do better for our pension customers.

"Our competitors of the past don't have the organisations to work with in the future that we have. They don't have the administration in place. Our local competitors are small by comparison to Crown Life. And the funds they are working with are limited.'' Crown Life, with some $6 billion in assets, has been active in the group retirement market for 40 years. Vontobel is one of the foremost Swiss private banks and one of the largest independent European asset managers with more than $20 billion under management. Vontobel US manages more than $1.4 billion in assets.

The plan provides for three types of asset allocation, depending on investment objectives, tolerance for risk and time horizon for investment development.

The three asset classes are termed conservative, moderate and aggressive.

Retirement Plus allows Bermudians to select a variety of investment options, including more conservative guaranteed interest contracts to US and international large cap stocks, Triple A rated bonds and opportunities to invest in emerging markets.

PLANNING AHEAD -- From left to right, Vontobel USA Inc. president and CEO Heinrich Schlegel and senior vice president Peter Newell join with Kitson & Co. Ltd. president Kirk Kitson and Crown Life Insurance Co. of Canada's John Hallett yesterday.