Finance: "In SSL, Unit Trust"

For Harris, the bottom line is that the market is ready for a unit trust that gives higher returns. “Right now about 5% of employed persons are invested in the #StockMarket. And so our goal is to move that number to 30% of income earners to invest in the market. It not only widens the pool of investors but strengthens the market place by encouraging new companies to offer themselves for investing. So we consider the social aspect of what we do as a part of nation building.” LamarHarris and her team at #SSL is planning to disrupt the #UnitTrust market ========== The unit trust business is pretty straight forward in that monies are collected from individuals, pooled together and then invested on their behalf by a fund manager. Yet, #LamarHarris, chief executive officer of #StocksAndSecuritiesLimited (#SSL) sees an opportunity to up the trading aspect of the unit trust business to push superior returns for investors. “Most #UnitTrusts are marketing that they make average returns. Currently our #ManagedFunds (not unit trust) were beating returns. We realized that we make good investment decisions and so we are confident that we can leverage that expertise to the unit trust,” Harris explained. Point of note that when you invest in a unit trust, you buy 'units' - and the cost of each unit is the 'unit price'. The unit price moves up and down to reflect the value of the #investments in the #fund. In a managed funds your funds are pooled and the manager seeks to get the best returns. And so to widen the pool of products available to the average Jamaican, SSL applied for and was granted a license to sell unit trust. While not giving away trading secrets, Harris explained that, “Our team meets weekly and looks for opportunities in the United States and local investment markets. We actively manage the portfolio. Now when you take someone’s money, we don’t have a crystal ball to say specifically what will happen. What we have is a goal to manage risk and grow the money. And in that way we will outperform the returns of money just sitting in a brokerage account.” -Financially Focussed