AS the old saying goes, you have to speculate to accumulate. This, fundamentally, is why the States pump so much public money into Jersey Finance Ltd, the organisation which promotes the Island’s number-one industry.

Last week, Deputy Geoff Southern urged his colleagues in the House to cut the public funding which Jersey Finance receives. He argued that, in this era of swingeing cuts, it was unfair for what amounts to the finance industry’s public relations arm to escape economies when so many other bodies and individuals are feeling the pinch.

In emotional terms, this line of reasoning might strike a chord with the many ordinary Islanders who, in spite of finance’s vital function as the power house of the economy, still find it difficult to take it to their hearts. However, as Deputy Southern’s margin of defeat – 38 votes to seven – confirms, it is clear that most States Members recognise the importance of promoting finance effectively.

To all intents and purposes, finance is the only show in town as far as the Island’s best economic interests are concerned, so to starve it of the funds it needs to sell our financial services to the world would be suicidal. Yet, although the Deputy’s proposition might, as the States heard, have been ‘foolish, nonsense and dangerous’, the debate it provoked no doubt served to focus new attention on the role of Jersey Finance and the part it plays in raising the profile of finance activity at home and abroad.

In addressing the international community and going out into the world to find new business opportunities, Jersey Finance manifestly does an excellent job. It is less successful when it comes to persuading the home audience that financial services are not only essential to the Island’s wellbeing, but also part of the fabric of Island life.

Given that encouraging business and making sure that the Jersey industry’s probity, skills and potential are fully understood internationally are priorities, more limited success on the home front is perhaps understandable. That said, the international outlook that finance is compelled to adopt – notwithstanding its good works in the fields of local charity and the arts – must marginalise it to an extent, making it an adjunct to, rather than an integral part of the community.

With its government funds assured, Jersey Finance could do worse than shift part of its focus to the home front, intensifying the drive to make sure that the sector it supports is embraced more fondly that is currently the case.