T&T’s Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) yesterday hosted its first, share sale in the UTC Global Balanced Fund Ltd (GBFL) to investors at an event in St Lucia.
Potential investors, institutional as well as individual, gathered at the Harbor Club St Lucia, Curio Collection by Hilton, to learn more about the GBFL, which is the first retail Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) that will become available to investors across the entire Eastern Caribbean.
Investors had the opportunity to sign up for the Fund at the event. The GBFL, which comprises regional and international stocks and bonds, is being sold in US dollars to investors in the Eastern Caribbean.
The share price of the Fund is calculated on a daily basis, based on the value of the securities in it. Shares in the GBFL are purchased at the offer price and redeemed at the bid price. The purchase of shares in the Fund attracts an initial sales charge of 1.2 per cent, the UTC said in a news release yesterday.
Speaking at the panel discussion in St Lucia, Nigel Edwards, UTC executive director and GBFL director, remarked that the Fund will allow everyone an opportunity to participate in the capital markets in the Eastern Caribbean in a way not possible before, much like what UTC offered when it started operations in T&T more than 40 years ago.
In her welcome remarks, UTC chair Jo-Ann Julien, noted that the Corporation will be celebrating its 41st anniversary tomorrow. She said the new fund would be the start of a new era of investing in the Eastern Caribbean, similar to what investors experienced in T&T when UTC opened its doors in 1982.
“A generation has grown up knowing of the UTC, knowing they have in their grasp the potential to become investors, to create wealth not just for themselves, but for their families. To leave a legacy for them to build on. And that’s the power that we want to share with the people of St Lucia and the wider Eastern Caribbean, the power to change lives for generations to come, the power that together we can make a difference.”
Regional CIS manager, GBFL, Omar Burch-Smith, was optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead, stating, “We are really excited to go through the entire OECS, delivering that message of what’s possible and what opportunities exist through the GBFL,” he said. He said the Fund was ideal for first-time investors who wanted to get their feet wet.
Edwards echoed these sentiments, observing that the UTC’s intention was to develop the Eastern Caribbean market and ultimately to promote wealth creation for the citizens of St Lucia and, by extension, economic growth. “When you do mobilise people’s capital, when you get people to invest in addition to saving, that’s very developmental for the economy as well.”
Crystal Rodgriguez-Greaves, UTC’s chief risk officer, said in the midst of volatility, investment opportunities exist, adding: “Because of its composition of investments in both equity and fixed income instruments, the GBFL has a medium risk profile and is considered a medium-to-long-term investment as it aims to provide returns though growth of capital and income generation,” she said.