Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
KELLY - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
ONE OF Jamaica's top commercial banks, RBTT (Jamaica) is at the cusp of formally launching their first subsidiary, RBTT Securities (Jamaica) Limited (RBTTSJL). And leading the way will be the former head of the RBTT treasury department, Ian Kelly.
The company was formed due to the FSC stipulation that commercial banks segregate their trading book from their banking operations. RBTT Securities received its licence from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in August 2004 and has been quietly doing business since January.
Now, the company is ready to make its presence felt.
"Our objective is to be a key player in this market. Our mandate is to grow the business to be a strong contributor to the group's earnings," he said. "We will be competitive and give value to the constituents we serve."
A certified public accountant, Mr. Kelly has been with the RBTT group since 2001 and has an intimate knowledge of the group and its strategic focus.
The new company has its own board of directors made up of three independent directors and four executive directors, of which Mr. Kelly is one.
Of course, it will be the front line staff that will really drive the ultimate success of the securities firm.
"Our human resource will be one of our critical success factors. We continue to hire young, dynamic and aggressive individuals. They are hungry and very, very ready based on the level of training over the last four months. They are a very important part of the RBTT group," he said.
"In fact, even before we start making a penny, we have exposed them to the customer service experience we expect and the excitement the team should be displaying."
So with the management and staff lined up, the next challenge is to differentiate RBTT Securities from the many other investment houses in the Jamaican market.
"We understand that we are in a business where the products are homogeneous. However, our group has a strong brand in the Caribbean and we expect to leverage the offerings of the brand."
So the company will tap into the existing assets of the RBTT group. Within Jamaica, there is the branch network.
RBTT Bank currently has 23 branches islandwide. Mr. Kelly says his division has leased space in the branches and will be placing their investment advisers there to interface with clients.
Outside of Jamaica, the RBTT group has other subsidiaries that offer investments that Mr. Kelly intends to tap into.
"We will work closely with the regional intragroup companies, such as RBTT Trust Company, which offers mutual funds and RBTT Merchant Bank, which offers bonds and is the largest arranger of bonds for both corporate institutions and regional governments. We will also work with RBTT Securities (Trinidad), a wealth management firm that caters to high net worth individuals."
He also said they planned to "bring products to Jamaica that have been tested and proven."
However, looking at the local equities market, Mr. Kelly has confirmed that his bank is interested in acquiring a seat on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). "We will be pursuing this in the future."
And in the meantime, Mr. Kelly tells us, "We have done an alliance with a major broker in Jamaica, so that part of our business will be attended to."
In regards to what customers can expect, Mr. Kelly uses
himself as an example. "When I invest, I want to ensure that I can sleep. I want to do business with a stable entity. I expect friendly service to be the norm and I look to a management team with proven competencies. That is what I want for myself and what we offer customers."
With this customer focus, Mr. Kelly tells us that they will serve clients of all types from the cane farmer to the high net worth individual. Their target is the clients who already enjoy the RBTT commercial bank experience.
