Nassau, Bahamas –
When the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) launched the Bahamas
Millennials Society (BMS) late last year it appreciated that the goals
of the society met an identified human capital development need, but it
did not realize just how welcome the initiative would be to young
persons engaged in or seeking to enter the financial services industry.
In just the first few months the Society has attracted 4 corporate
sponsors and, of course, it is seeking more. Membership also is open to
individuals within member firms who do not have the employee numbers to
justify corporate sponsorship and to students studying in a degree
related to financial services, law, accounting or real estate.
BMS will hold its second event on
March 18
at the Balmoral Club. This will be a half day “Future Leaders Forum”
during which there will be a discussion on some of the skills that
millennials need to master to be successful in an increasingly
competitive environment. BFSB CEO Aliya Allen says of the forum,
“It’s
an opportunity to spark a discussion on personal and professional
development utilizing cross-generational perspectives. The dialogue that
will occur should serve to give a generational reality check - the
priorities, issues and outlooks that are held by different generations
can be surprisingly different but there are ways to manage those
differences without making value judgments.”
Another
focus of the forum will be on “soft skills” and relationship building
with a highlight presentation by international guest speaker Lisa Chau,
the Founder of Alpha Vert, a private consultancy focused on social media
and cross-platform marketing. Ms. Chau, who spent five years working
for her alma mater Dartmouth College, was an assistant director of
alumni affairs and assistant director of PR for the Tuck School of
Business. She also has taught at MIT, and guest lectured MBA and
undergraduate courses in e-business strategy at Baruch College and The
New School. In reflecting on her own experiences in an article
published on the Huffington Post, Ms. Chau writes
“I now realize the
invaluable skill of networking. That is, fostering a positive culture of
interpersonal relationships built on a foundation of solid work.
Focusing on one or the other does not work.” Ms. Chau has written extensively on the power of networking to help advance careers and business objectives.
Also
featured will be reflections of industry leaders Atul Lele, Chief
Investment Strategist of Deltec International Group and Jane Siebels
founder of Green Cay Asset Management. Mr. Lele and Ms. Siebels will
share advice with millennials on what it takes to succeed with the
benefit and hindsight of their own experiences. Before joining Deltec,
Mr. Lele was formerly a Director and Head of Strategy and Economics with
Credit Suisse, based in Australia, and was the #1 Rated Strategist in
Institutional Investor Survey and Peter Lee (formerly Greenwich)
Institutional Equities Survey over multiple years. Ms. Siebels is
Chairwoman and CIO of the investment firm she formed in 1977, and which
oversees $300 million in assets for institutions and high net worth
individuals.
A
third panel discussion will focus on how and why the spirit of
entrepreneurship should be encouraged in the financial services sector
and in the broader economy. The panel highlights two Bahamian
entrepreneurs in beverage manufacturing and culinary tourism - Mervin
Sweeting, CEO of Switcha Bahamas and Alanna Rodgers, Founder of Tru
Bahamian Food Tours and Hands for Hunger - and one Bahamian involved in
business development for a financial services entrepreneurial business,
Khalil Braithwaite of Leno Corporate Services. Mr. Sweeting started
his company in 2007 in his kitchen, and is aiming to go public in 2-3
years’ time to raise the capital necessary for a planned $15-$25 million
Andros expansion as well as international growth plans. Alanna
Rodgers is a young Bahamian social entrepreneur with a passion for
transformative community engagement. She started the food tours in 2012
on a mission to connect visitors with Nassau’s most beloved culinary
treasures and the local artisans, chefs and entrepreneurs preserving
these traditions. CEO Allen notes,
“While
it may seem that there is a tenuous link between financial services and
these particular industries, we believe the lessons to be learned on
taking risks, hard work and creativity are fully transportable.
Entrepreneurship isn’t easy and financial services entrepreneurship can
be especially difficult but we want to plant a seed.” The third panellist,
Mr.
Braithwaite, has been intimately involved with the introduction and
successful implementation of pension plans for several companies in
various industries.
The
final session will be a cross-generational roundtable discussion
involving millennial Dr. Iyandra Bryan, Managing Director, Lyford Tree
Legal; Gen-Xer Kevin Burrows, Senior Vice President of CFAL and
President of the CFA Society; and Suzanne Black, Founder of Black &
Associates. Dr. Bryan, not yet 30, has held various roles in the
financial services industry, achieving a Doctor in Jurisprudence at age
23 from the University of Florida Fredric G Levin College of Law and a
Doctor of Philosophy at age 26 from the University of London under the
supervision of Professor Barry A K Rider, a world-renowned expert on
financial crimes, and Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge.
Yale and Cambridge University alumni Kevin Burrows is a noted analyst
with 20 years of experience in the finance industry, including an
international posting as Director and Chief Investment Officer of
London-based Nedgroup Investments. Suzanne Black is an industry veteran
and is considered a trailblazer as she was the first woman and Bahamian
to head an international bank branch and The Lyford Cay Club.
This first major event of the year will kick off a busy calendar for BMS. “
BMS is a bit of a passion project for me and indeed the entire steering committee”, says CEO Aliya Allen, herself a millennial.
“When
I started out I found it quite difficult to navigate professionally
because I thought there was some pre-defined route to career
progression. I had a very rigid way of looking at personal and
professional success. Connecting with senior figures across and outside
the industry changed all of that and gave me the confidence to accept
greater leadership roles at a fairly young age”.
This
is one of the reasons that BFSB hopes that the BMS mentorship program
in which mentors from the industry and mentees will be “matched” on the
basis of background and goals and priorities, will be a success. “
We must place a greater focus on succession in the industry,” says Ms. Allen.
“There
is no vision for The Bahamas in 30 or 40 years that could leave out
young people who comprise the industry right now. These are the future
leaders and some, we are very proud to say, are leading right now.”