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Last Updated: Sep 5, 2018 - 1:53:08 PM |
David Slatter, Royal Fidelity Assistant Vice President - Investment Management Services
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Nassau, Bahamas - Michael Anderson, the president of Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank and Trust considers the company’s recent milestone anniversary of twenty years to be a, ‘good start’. And now, with the prerequisite celebratory party behind him, he and his investment management team are keen to make the next 20 years just as meaningful, starting with new products and services and proposed Caribbean expansion plans beyond the present footprint in The Bahamas and Barbados.
David Slatter, Assistant Vice President and responsible for Royal Fidelity‘s Investment Management services, is one of Royal Fidelity’s cornerstones and is proud of the firms continuing progress.
“This is my third time with Royal Fidelity; the first time was in 1998 as a securities trader, I rejoined the team in the early 2000’s as Investment Manager of Corporate Finance and this time, after 10 years of experience in other areas of finance and operations, I am glad to say I have really found my niche. It’s good to be back in my investment management role with my expanded skill-set and experience. I find Royal Fidelity an exciting place to work as we are expanding both our client base and our products and I am constantly challenged to create value for our investors. I’ve always been intrigued by the mechanics of investment banking and the opportunities it can deliver with smart and effective management,” said Mr. Slatter whose finance career spans 22 years.
“Since my return, I see lots of changes including the size of the business - it’s grown exponentially - the number of clients has increased and the assets we have under management have grown from approximately 200 million to 700 million dollars with assets under administration of over $2 Billion.”
Technology has played a role in Royal Fidelity’s strong growth, as clients appreciate being able to check stock prices daily on the website and review their trading portfolios and investment statements online explained the investment banker.
“Royal Fidelity has been managing international securities portfolios since the early 2000’s and we believe that adding international investments into the standard Bahamian dollar portfolios improves diversification and overall performance. So we were particularly excited by the Central Bank’s decision to reduce the cost of purchasing investment dollars from 12.5% to 5% and effectively making it easier for a number of investors to take advantage of international investment opportunities. To assist our investment management clients in adding international investments into their portfolios we’re expanding our services to include Global Invest – through which our clients will gain access to Royal Fidelity’s international broker dealer relationship, including Morgan Stanley, and their highly professional international portfolio management expertise. Royal Fidelity will work with the international brokers and assist investors make their investment decisions recognising their various risk return requirements. Through Global Invest, we will make international investing more accessible to Bahamian investors, including providing a seamless Central Bank approval process,” said the assistant vice president.
Mr. Slatter said that the opportunity to invest in international securities was particularly important to Bahamian investors at this time given the extremely low bank deposit rates and the limited other investment opportunities in The Bahamas. He noted that access to alternative investment opportunities was of even more concern to clients financing their retirement years.
“I take each client through the various investment options so they can see the investment returns compared to their regular bank savings. We discuss their goals and objectives and based on their age and risk tolerance level I can give them an investment plan which outlines their path toward reaching their goals and objectives.
“A good start is Mutual Funds or a Personal Pension Plan. Some people are fortunate enough to be in a company Pension Plan and can look forward to a lump sum at retirement but even so, it’s unlikely it will be enough, so it doesn’t hurt to start your own. The beauty of a lump sum at retirement is its further investment options. I can put that money to work earning returns on the principal for someone whilst also setting them up with a monthly income stream.
“Of course, I hope that those people with a lump sum already will come in to see me for some investment advice, but there’s also a lot of information on our web site which may be useful.” www.royalfidelity.com.
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