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Financial News

Apr 2013 Financial News

Sagicor Life takes over Sigma unit trust operations

Apr 05, 2013

Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited has taken over the unit trust operations from investment subsidiary, Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited, which places full responsibility for the management, investment and administrative duties of all pooled funds within the group under the auspices of the parent.

At the same time, the unit trust funds have also been rebranded from Sigma Funds to Sagicor Sigma Funds.

The Sigma Fund evolved out of Sigma Unit Trust Investment Growth Fund, which was registered in Jamaica on May 25, 1994, and was then subsequently changed to Sigma Fund in October 2004.

In May 2012, Sagicor Life Jamaica was delegated with the specific management and administrative duties of the Sigma Fund, now renamed Sagicor Sigma Fund.

According to Rohan Miller, executive vice-president and chief investment officer of Sagicor Life Jamaica, the move to consolidate was motivated by the drive for greater efficiency in the overall group operations.

"All the funds will now be managed under one operation at Sagicor Life - one entity managing pooled funds - so as to gain operational synergies and ensure maximum efficiency," said Miller.

"So the units trust funds will be absorbed into the current structure. There will be no significant change in operation because we already operate a significant pool fund operation, so it's not difficult to handle in respect to systems and personnel," he said.

Sagicor Life Jamaica's portfolio of pooled funds amount to almost J$100 billion, inclusive of the unit trust funds, Miller said.

Miller said for now the change will involve just the day-to-day management and investment decisions for the unit trusts, while the regulatory reporting requirements will remain with Sagicor Investments.

Sagicor Investment last year added five more funds to its suite of unit trust products, bringing the total to 10 on the local market.

With funds under management of J$22.6 billion, Miller said Sagicor Sigma Funds currently has the largest share of the unit trust market at 46 per cent as at February.

J$49b market value

At that estimate, the full market would currently be valued at just over J$49 billion. The latest data from the Financial Services Commission was for September 2012, with total funds under management then at J$41.2 billion among the four players.

The other three unit trust fund managers are Barita, Scotia Asset Management and JMMB Fund Managers Limited.

The Sagicor Sigma funds cover fixed income, local and international stocks, and real estate. The company has dramatically reduced the minimum required investment from J$45,000 to just J$500 for nine of the 10 funds.

"As a result, Sagicor Sigma is now the most affordable unit trust in Jamaica," said Alicia Thomas, business development manager of Sagicor Life Jamaica, in a press release announcing the fund management changes.

The exception is the Sigma Real Estate fund, which is targeted at high net worth clients and requires a minimum investment of J$500 million. It is sold as a long-term investment whose units are held for a minimum of three years, Sagicor said.

The others - the Sigma Solution, US dollar-indexed Sigma Liberty, Corporate, Real Growth and Money Market, which are fixed- income investment; equity-based Venture, Global Equity and Optima; and Sigma Diversified Investor, which is a combination of real estate, fixed income and equities - can be held for a minimum 90 days with a minimum investment of J$500.

Miller said the funds have been performing well, especially Sigma Global Equity and Sigma Corporate. However, the weekly published data on the unit trust market shows negative year-to-date growth rates for Sigma Optima and Sigma Solution.


Source:
sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com
Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter
Jamaica Gleaner
Friday April 5, 2013

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130405/business/business4.html