The unit-trust market has a handful of players - Dehring, Bunting and Golding, Pan Caribbean Asset Management, Barita, and Capital and Credit Fund Managers Limited.

There is a moratorium on new entrants to the market until the Financial Services Commission (FSC) completes a revision of the sector and the legal framework to guide it, and is officially declared their regulator.

Companies like First Global Financial Services, a Grace-Kennedy investment company, has said they plan to launch into unit trusts - held up only by the FSC's schedule.

Among the current local players, Pan Caribbean dominates on returns to investors, according to industry trading figures at Decem-ber 20, with asset growth rate of 11.74 per cent and 13.59 per cent on two fixed-income portfolios and 9.50 per cent on its equity fund.

DB&G Unit Trust has two products, premium growth and money market, with annual yields of 13.03 per cent and 10.68 per cent.

Capital and Credit portfolios

Capital and Credit, whose portfolio includes real estate, equity and fixed-income instruments, is yielding between 2.31 per cent and 11.23 per cent.

Barita's capital growth and money-market funds have been performing at 14.45 per cent and 9.53 per cent, respectively.

Barita claims 15 per cent of the market.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com