The Tribune

THE Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) yesterday announced that Colonial Pension Services (Bahamas) Ltd has been approved as the eighth BISX Sponsor Member.

BISX Sponsor Members are responsible for bringing mutual fund listings to the Exchange and acting as the first point of contact for mutual funds while they are engaged in the listing application process with the Exchange.

Colonial Pension Services brings to the Exchange a wealth of experience in the areas of wealth and pension fund management.

 Larry Gibson, Colonial Pensions Bahamas Vice President, said: “Having established ourselves as a regional and international pension administrator and investment manager, Colonial Pension is pleased to take this next step towards consolidating ourselves as the premier pension provider in the Bahamas.

“As the newest BISX Sponsor Member, this is yet another affirmation of our commitment to the development of the Bahamian pension industry”. Immediately after gaining approval as a BISX Sponsor Member, Colonial Pension submitted an application to list three sub-funds of the Colonial Bahamas Fund on BISX under the Exchange’s mutual fund listing facility. The three funds have been approved for listing and will now have their information disseminated via the BISX website.

Colonial Bahamas Fund Classes D, E and F are open-ended investment sub-funds of the Colonial Bahamas Fund.

BISX Chief Executive Officer, Keith Davies, said: “We are pleased to have such a positive development in the first quarter of 2015. By Colonial Pension joining BISX as a Sponsor Member, they are now able to bring mutual fund listings directly to BISX, and BISX is able to direct business inquiries to this new Member.

“We believe that this affiliation in conjunction with their existing Membership as a BISX Broker Dealer Member will allow Colonial Pension to pursue new business opportunities while offering more services to their existing clients. The three sub-funds of the Colonial Bahamas Fund will each have their own Net Asset Value listed on BISX and posted on the Exchange’s website.

“These series are being created as Bahamian Depository Receipts (BDRs) and the underlying investments will be in global securities.

 The three sub-funds are:

• Colonial Bahamas Fund Class D shares ,whose investment objective is the preservation of capital whilst minimising overall risk.

• Colonial Bahamas Fund Class E shares, whose investment objective is to achieve moderate growth within a medium to long term frame with moderate risk.

• Colonial Bahamas Fund Class F shares, whose investment objective is to generate long term capital by investing in higher risk assets.

Commenting on the addition of a new mutual fund listing on the Exchange, Mr Davies said: “We are pleased with the addition of these three sub-funds of the Colonial Bahamas Fund to BISX. These funds add three new options to the investment products available to the Bahamian investing public via the Exchange.

“This offering also furthers the BISX aim of encouraging an investing culture in the Bahamas. Our market is continuing to expand as new products and new entrants continue to recognise the potential of the Bahamian marketplace.”

Desiree Parker CFA, Assistant Vice President and Portfolio Manager for the Colonial Bahamas Fund, said that “the addition of these new share classes will provide significant diversification opportunities to our clients either directly or through our existing investment products. We currently have relationships with an array of ‘best-in-class’ global managers whom we utilise for our non-Bahamian block of business, and the creation of these new sub-classes will allow us to offer that expertise to our local clients.”

Colonial Pension Services (Bahamas) Ltd served as the BISX Sponsor Member that brought this Fund to the Exchange. It has also been appointed as the Administrator and Investment Manager for this Fund.