10152019 BUSINESS

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business@tribunemedia.net

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2019

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RoyalFidelity: $1bn goal as ‘Caribbean’s premier’ Govt finances

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K PETER TURNQUEST

face 3-year Dorian blow

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net HURRICANE Dorian will likely throw the government’s finances off-track for the next three years, the deputy prime minister has revealed, although its fiscal “fundamentals” have not altered. K Peter Turnquest told Tribune Business that a “three-year run-out period” was “not unreasonable” given the extent of the devastation inflicted by the category five storm on infrastructure and other public assets, as well as multiple communities in Abaco and east Grand Bahama. This indicates that Dorian has blown the government’s fiscal consolidation plan offcourse until 2021-2022 at least, although the scale of the damage is likely to progressively decrease from the projected $436m increase in the 2019-2020 deficit during future years. Mr Turnquest, meanwhile, said he was “personally disappointed” that Dorian had

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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

R

OYALFIDELITY is now focused on becoming “the premier Caribbean investment bank and wealth manager” after its management-led buyout closed last Wednesday, its president has revealed. Michael Anderson, pictured, confirming that all necessary regulatory approvals in The Bahamas and Barbados have been received, told Tribune Business that the merchant bank is aiming to grow assets under management by 25 percent over the next year to hit the $1bn mark by end-2020. Expressing “relief” that RoyalFidelity’s purchase from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and its parent group had finally closed, some eight months after it was first announced, Mr Anderson said the way was clear to “focus on building our business again”. He revealed that top RoyalFidelity executives, including those from Barbados and the Cayman Islands, will meet in early November to develop a strategy for regional

• ‘Relief’ at RBC/parent buyout close • Eyes 25% managed assets growth • Cayman pension deal close imminent

expansion that includes penetration of the eastern Caribbean. Mr Anderson added that RoyalFidelity’s Nassau office will remain the headquarters for its back office functions and information technology (IT) systems, acting as the springboard for its growth plans, and its workforce is expected to hit 50 before year-end via the hiring of four more staff. He added that RoyalFidelity is aiming for its Caribbean operations to be “if not larger, at least as big as The Bahamas” within the next five years. This nation currently accounts for 80 percent of its activities, and Mr Anderson said he expected local business to

maintain its present ten to 15 percent annual growth rate for “the next three years”. Regional expansion, though, stands to get a major boost from the imminent acquisition of its former parent group’s Cayman Islands pension administration portfolio, which Mr Anderson said was anticipated to close in early November pending the necessary regulatory approvals. He added that this would add $150m in assets under management to RoyalFidelity’s total, taking it close to the $1bn mark it is targeting for end-2020. “We closed the transaction Wednesday,” Mr Anderson told Tribune Business, adding that his reaction was “one of relief” given that the buyout of previous 50/50 owners, RBC and BISX-listed Fidelity Bank (Bahamas), had first been announced in early February. “It’s just taken a long time,” the RoyalFidelity chief added. “It’s one of opportunity. Like I said before we’ve got a huge opportunity to move

Top Abaco food store to Freeport firms on ‘life re-open with 40% of staff support’ following Dorian By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ABACO’S main supermarket will re-open “within two weeks” with just over 40 percent of its pre-Dorian staff, as one of its principals said: “I’ve never seen devastation like that in my life.” Rupert Roberts, the Super Value chief, told Tribune Business that the category five storm had inflicted an estimated $10m worth of damage to wholesale and retail properties owned by himself and business partner, Chad Sawyer. However, he revealed that Maxwell’s Supermarket is in the process of being restocked in a bid to “be up and running” in around a fortnight after it was one of the few Marsh Harbour properties - besides

FREEPORT-based small businesses say they do not know how they will recover and resume operations after the devastating blow inflicted by Hurricane Dorian. Many were uninsured and lost their entire inventory and equipment when Dorian’s storm surge swept through the business section of Queen’s Highway, all the way into downtown Freeport. One business operator of 30 years said he was on “life support”, after having to borrow cash from family and friends to relocate to smaller premises, while another reported that his firm was “totally devastated” and he had nowhere to turn for help.

RUPERT ROBERTS the government complex and clinic - to emerge from Dorian relatively unscathed. “If Maxwell’s was wiped out we would have been wiped out,” Mr Roberts told Tribune Business. “We’ve had building and property damage of at least $10m, I’d estimate, but Maxwell’s had very little damage. We may have some roof damage, and may have lost ten solar panels, but there were two

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“We never thought we would be devastated like this,” said Craig Malone. “So, I know we all in the same boat, we do not know where to turn – and I am kind of lost.” An auto repair shop operator, his business - located next to Waugh Construction, near Queens Highway - was completely destroyed. “It was totally devastated – everything,” Mr Malone said. “It is a troublesome thing; it was where I made my bread and butter. I don’t get a pay cheque or salary. I work on vehicles and I get paid. If I don’t work on them, I go home with nothing. Well, it’s been over a month now and I go home with nothing. “So, I don’t know what the next step is. We are all

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into new markets such as Cayman. I’m encouraged that we’ve got most of this out of the way and can focus on building the business. “The discussions around transactions get complex, and a lot of people are involved, so it distracts from the day-to-day business. We can now focus on building our business again.” Mr Anderson said RoyalFidelity will place great emphasis on its technology platform to drive efficiencies and business development as it seeks to penetrate new regional markets and establish a solid business book in each one it targets. “We have a strategic meeting at the beginning of November, bringing all of our people together, including Cayman, to talk about how to improve our technology to create efficiencies and develop business across the region,” he explained. “We’re looking to grow our pensions and asset management business across the region, not just in Cayman

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SIR JACK HAYWARD

Sir Jack’s butler in fight over his trust By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE late Sir Jack Hayward’s family trust has become embroiled in a fresh legal battle sparked by the claims of his Bahamian butler, Tribune Business can reveal. Julius Trevor Bethel, who was also the former Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) co-chairman’s personal assistant and manager of his Freeport residences, has been seeking to persuade the Bahamian courts to both freeze the trust’s affairs and remove the judicial trustee overseeing it. The details have been exposed by a Court of Appeal ruling, dated October 11, which refused to give Mr Bethel what he was seeking based on technicalities involving judicial rules. The former butler had alleged that Justice Ian Winder’s decision to recuse himself from hearing the matter at the Supreme

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