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To give his venture prestige, Barish shrewdly enlisted as directors of GRAMCO Ltd. not only Salinger but half a dozen other Government aides. Among them: former HEW Under Secretary Ivan Nestingen, former Commerce Department Executive John Stillman and former White House Assistant Richard Donahue. As chairman, a role that he assumed on leaving Continental
Airlines, Salinger concentrates on helping the fund expand into new territory. Although there are 350 salesmen in 40 countries, 70% of the fund's sales so far have come from Latin America. Last week Salinger and his third wife, French-born Nicole, flew to Paris, where Pierre plans to live for the next year and a half while promoting the fund's European sales, which are thus far confined to West Germany.
No Brass Plate. For his efforts, Salinger gets a hefty salary plus stock options. One of his frequent tasks, Salinger concedes, is helping to dispel investor worries about GRAMCO's Nassau base. Lax laws, loosely enforced, have given the Bahamas a reputation as a haven for promoters of dubious activities.
Yet for GRAMCO as well as its customers, the location offers some important advantages. When buying, foreign investors escape the 15% U.S. interest-equalization tax. When selling their shares, they avoid U.S. capital-gains taxes. Because the Bahamas have no income tax, GRAMCO's revenue also enjoys a tax-free status.
While all too many Nassau-based firms consist chiefly of a brass plate on a lawyer's door and someone to answer the mail, GRAMCO's 100 Nassau staffers fill three floors in two office buildings. To make sure that every penny of income and outgo is handled meticulously, GRAMCO has turned the routine operation of the fund over to the prestigious Trust Corp. of the Bahamas, which is jointly owned by such institutions as Manhattan's Morgan Guaranty Trust Co., the Royal Bank of Canada and London's Westminster Bank Ltd.