The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is eyeing a record year for mutual fund listings, its chief executive revealing that at least 10 are anticipated before 2014 closes.

Keith Davies told Tribune Business that the exchange, which already hosts 27 funds, had seven more listings lined up to go with the three it has attracted year-to-date.

“We’ve listed three for the year, and have seven more in train to come forward,” he said. “Once we do that, I think we will be ahead of our projections for the year in terms of the listing of mutual funds. It’s a very positive year for us in that regard.

“All in all, I think we’ve gone past expectations for the year already. We did that in the first five months, and are looking to expand that even more. We’re doing extremely well, and are getting a very good response from the market. It far surpasses previous years.”

BISX added mutual fund listings to its product menu in 2000, and while momentum has been slow to build it now appears to be picking up.

“We’re about to get 10 potenial listings in one year, so from that perspective it’s the busiest year for us, and there’s potentially more,” Mr Davies told Tribune Business. “I know we’ve done more than we expected.”

To-date, BISX has already listed the Quelez Fixed Income Fund, Hudson Investment Arbitrage Fund and Fitpart Diversified Strategies Professional Fund for 2014.

And its strategy of targeting the key growth area in the Bahamian investment funds industry, the SMART (Specific Mandate Alternative Regulatory Test) Funds, along with their administrators and sponsors, appears to be paying dividends.

Praising fellow BISX executive Holland Grant for closing many new fund listings, Mr Davies said: “We picked up right where we left off in 2013, and things are anticipated to increase beyond our initial expectations.

“We’re expecting quite a bit more business to come along that track. It’s been a positive six months, and the remaining six months look even more so. The level of confidence people are expressing in the exchange is more than we’ve seen in previous years.”

Mr Davies said the increased interest in using BISX as a capital markets platform was stemming from the clear benefits it provided to particpants.

“It’s because we’ve stood the test of time, and shown people the value of being involved in the exchange,” he added. “As one of the sponsor members indicated, there is value added for them and they can sell it positively to the client.

“That’s what we want to hear as an exchange, and people are seeking to do business with BISX. They’re asking how they can get a listing on the exchange, see it as value added to their customers, and are pushing it hard as a key feature of their service offering.”

Mr Davies said there was a growing recognition that capital markets were becoming a key growth generator, providing a structured, rules-based arena in which entities could raise funds and securitise assets.

“There’s quite a bit of interest to work with us and grow the market locally and internationally,” the BISX chief executive added.

“I’m pleased that we’re getting the type of calls and questions from individuals thinking about how to use the market for ‘x’, and to do this and that project. This is really starting to force the market to think about formalising itself even more.”