Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
SHIRLEY
SANDRA SHIRLEY, president of First Global Financial Services (FGFS), wants her clients to experience elegance when conducting business at the brokerage house. It's not just about buying stocks and bonds.
Ms. Shirely says her team at FGFS is all about providing a total experience that satisfies the investor above and beyond her competition.
With $17 billion on their balance sheet, $16 billion in pension funds under management and $2 billion in custodian funds, FGFS is part of the Financial Services Division of GraceKennedy (GK). This is the same financial services division that contributed 47.5 per cent of revenue to the GK group in 2004.
Recently, the FGFS team has launched a series of seminars targeting women with 'Tea & Talk', investors interested in retirement with 'Want to Retire Early?' and families with 'Planning Successfully for Child's College Education."
The Financial Gleaner sat down with Ms. Shirley and her team, which includes Safiya Burton, regional marketing manager of GK Funds, a Cayman Island-based GK company, and spoke of the direction of FGFS and its flagship product - GK Funds.
Financial Gleaner (FG) -; What differentiates FGFS from the competition?
Sandra Shirley (SS) - FGFS brings together a suite of financial products along with the power to leverage our relationship with GraceKennedy.
Our range of products is on par with NCB Capital Markets - although they are bigger and we are a niche bank. We offer the full range of products and services for individuals and institutions in both Jamaican and U.S. dollars, which includes mutual funds.
And our association with GK means that we can be a powerhouse within the region.
Additionally, the fact that we are a niche bank means that we add value to all our investors. Why? Because people want to make investment decisions in a setting where they can relax.
FG: Other brokerage houses have seminars, what makes your series different?
SS: We don't just focus on talking about our products. What we do is say 'come in and experience an elegant evening.' Our seminars are about the same relaxing experience that you would have in the bank. We want people to not only understand why investing is important but understand that we care about their total well being.
It is so distressing for me to see at the seminars people my age and older with a look of shock. You can see in their faces 'what can I do about my finances?' Those are the people that I worry about.
So we say to them, and all those who attend our seminars, that we can provide a financial guide that will get them on the right path, regardless of if they have just started out in their career or are maybe ten years away from retirement.
FG: Who are your ideal clients?
SS: We focus on the medium to high net worth people who aspire to executive positions or business owners.
We also cater to up and coming professionals.
FGFS is a place for working people who have identified that they have to set aside a portion of their income for long term investing.
We don't focus on individuals who eke out a subsistence living we are not everybody's banker.
FG: Tell us about the FGFS experience.
SS: We want to know what your needs and objectives are and what stage of life you are at.
We are saying that you should not limit yourself because of that stage of life .
Successful investing is about diversification.
We will help you to identify the best suite of investments to reach your goals.
Beyond the individual financial help we offer, we are very proud of our research team. We not only track the local financial markets, but because of our GK connection we can survey the regional markets and collaborate with international players as well.
FG: One of the outcrops of your GK connection is the association with GK Funds. Tell us about this.
SS: This bond fund is nearly three years old and is geared toward growth over the medium term.
The fund has had a 12 month yield of 7.18 per cent as at August this year. We invest in US dollar denominated sovereign debt of English speaking Caribbean countries.
GK Funds has been successful because of excellent research through keeping our ears on the ground. Also, GK operatives around the Caribbean provide information to keep us up to date.
Safiya Burton (SB): In fact, compared to our peers, we are the best performing US dollar bond fund in Caribbean last year.
We have been able to maintain our target yield of 6 to 8 per cent over the nearly three years and despite a very active hurricane season last year.
FG: Can you discuss some of the future plans for FGFS?
SS: We have an application with the Financial Services Commission for four new GK funds to be introduced into the market by year end.
We are also waiting on the amendment of the Companies Act and the tax regime so that we can introduce five new mutual funds from FGFS.
Also, we are lobbying for individual retirement accounts for self employed individuals. Right now the law favours companies when it comes to tax deferred pension funds but I believe that long term savings is in the interest of the country.
