By Al Edwards, Business Co-ordinatorLOCAL FINANCE house Dehring Bunting & Golding (DB&G) has gained a reputation as a progressive, innovative institution willing and able to think outside the box.
It was founded by three young, dynamic men, Chris Dehring, Peter Bunting and Mark Golding a few years before the financial sector meltdown. To their credit and as a testament to their stewardship, DB&G remained unscathed from that period when FINSAC had its hands in practically every local financial institution.
Those founding fathers are now just in their early forties and they are handing the torch to the next generation of bankers. This week the Financial Gleaner turns the spotlight on seven unit heads, all under the age of 30, who will ensure that DB&G lives long and prospers.
VERNON JAMES, 26 EQUITIES TRADER
Head of DB&G's Stock Brokerage Unit, age 26
DB&G reposed much faith in this young man and had him down as a future manager at the organisation, so much so that it sponsored his studies for his Master's at Warwick University in England. He always wanted to study financial markets and initially got in with a partial scholarship. DB&G saw something in Vernon and decided to sponsor the rest of the programme. Completing his studies after a year, he returned to Jamaica in 2001 and joined DB&G's Financial Planning & Analysis Unit.
With DB&G acquiring a stock brokerage arm Vernon decided this could prove lucrative and positioned himself accordingly, learning all he could about both the local and international stock markets. The vice-president of Treasury approached him with a view to developing this new department, an offer he did not hesitate in accepting.
THE LOCAL STOCK MARKET
Jamaican stocks, despite the fact that volumes are low, are enjoying a bull run of sorts long may it continue says Vernon. "This is good to see, because around this time last year when interest rates went up the stock market suffered a setback. This year the economy appears to be on the up with positive inflows from tourism, an encouraging level of exchange rate stability and interest rates trending down. There is a lot of liquidity in the market right now and people are looking for the same level of return that they have become used to and so are looking to the stock market because they are not getting the same yields they used to get from fixed income returns. For the investor coming into the market now he or she has to be careful. I'm seeing a lot of investors randomly choosing stocks looking for immediate big returns. One should be guided by a trained financial adviser and conduct their own research. Stock tips? I like First Life, Life of Jamaica, JMMB which is a good long-term buy, and Capital & Credit, which has a lot of demand now coming out of Trinidad."
KERRY-ANN BETTON, 28
MARKETING MANAGER
With marketing and advertising being the lifeblood of many Jamaican financial institutions, a huge responsibility has been placed on Kerry-Ann's shoulders. She has to constantly come up with innovative and creative ways to push D&BG products and services and the brand.
On completing her degree in marketing and e-commerce at the University of Maryland, in the United States, she returned home looking to start her career in earnest. Her application proved successful and she joined DB&G' s Marketing Unit. She moved up the ranks to assistant manager and was appointed manager about a year ago. "As part of my function, I oversee the entire Marketing Unit from advertising to event management promotions and sponsorships. I also oversee the call centre operations to a certain degree because the call centre is a sub unit of the Marketing Unit." Initially DB&G targeted mainly corporate clients but as they expanded into individual clients they started to pursue their marketing activities a little more heavily and focused on a message that was unique. They wanted to be different.
"Out of that came our campaign using children to create a different image which, by the way, was award winning when it come out. That really set the pace for DB&G as a company that pursues marketing in an unconventional way. It has evolved somewhat but still maintains that difference where today we are using real individual clients. It has always maintained a certain level of dynamism and innovativeness, while at the same time getting home a powerful and strong message that DB&G is the place to invest with."
Kerry-Ann is focused on marketing DB&G as the complete financial services provider and is not looking to market its various arms separately, although lately it has placed some emphasis on its recently-acquired merchant bank.
"For the next few years I am concentrating on getting tons of experience at DB&G. The good thing about being at DB&G is that being a young person the company will not put a ceiling on how far you can go." SIDJAE ROBINSON, 26
SENIOR MANAGER
Head of private banking
"Private banking is about maintaining relationships with clients and so the main concerns are financial planning, portfolio management and to ensure not only the accumulation of wealth but preserving it as well," said Miss Robinson.
One would have thought that only people with vast sums of disposable income would use private banking services. Not so, according to Sidjae. "The clientele that comes to see us is very diverse. You have those who literally stuff their funds under the mattress but you have those who have invested and really understand the market." Miss Robinson said that gone are the days when you have to go into the bank to make transactions. Personnel from her private banking division actually go to visit clients at their homes or place of business. "We try to facilitate comfort for the client at all levels."
Banking is a career shift for Sidjae. It wasn't too long ago that she held a position in protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She studied economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She visited DB&G with a view to see what positions were available and was asked to submit a resume and the rest, as they say, is history. She began her career at the company three years ago as a management associate in private banking. After nine months in that position she was promoted to assistant manager, and then after a year she rose to become manager and now she is the senior manager at the tender age of 26.
"They certainly facilitate growth at DB&G and you are not limited to your department, you can move into other areas if you so choose."
When Sidjae is not engrossed in private banking she gets involved with her church and a children's sports ministry. Right now she is planning a camp for children bet-ween the ages of eight and 13. The target group is inner-city children.
PATRICIA CAMPBELL, 26
MANAGER OF DB&G PORTMORE
DB&G's newest branch is located in Portmore with Patricia Campbell at the head as its manager. After completing her degree in Economics at UWI she taught the subject to sixth form students at Calabar. Looking to enter the world of finance she joined a company but did not like it there and so sought to join an institution that would fit her personality DB&G.
She began in the corporate banking division as a management associate concentrating on investment advice. She held this position for some six months, then served a stint in personal banking beginning January 2003. The company opened the Portmore branch in March 2003 where she was appointed as manager.
"Portmore is developing at a fast rate with many businesses setting up operations there. It will be a completely different proposition within the next 10 years. It is an area which we really needed to go into. We are seeing other financial institutions enter Portmore and that is not surprising. NCB is putting up a huge building, RBTT is here, so is BNS. It would not surprise me if Portmore surpasses Montego Bay as Jamaica's second city."
Mrs. Campbell said that the Portmore branch targets ordinary Jamaicans who want to save and its product range is wide, the real thrust of the bank is the retail market and it offers loan facilities. She says that her immediate goal is to grow the Portmore branch. Married for three years, she says she is a laid back person who likes to watch movies and spend time with her family and friends. "I am part of a dynamic team at DB&G and really enjoy my job.
And what makes a good banker?
"Somebody who is able to have a good relationship with clients, someone who clients can trust and feel comfortable talking to about their money."
JOHANN HEAVEN, 28
ASSISTANT VICE-PRESIDENT
Head of financial planning and analysis unit
After completing his Master's in Finance at the University of London, Johann returned to Jamaica looking to make his mark. At the time DB&G recently acquired Eagle Unit Trust and they needed someone to do full time analysis for them, so Johann was hired as an analyst in July 2000 to look at the stocks on the JSE and make recommendations for the fund.
So why DB&G?
"Well, I heard DB&G was the best place to work. It was up and coming making interesting acquisitions and they seemed to be very entrepreneurial."
Every year Johann's department does a strategic plan for the company, looking at the current environment and making projections for the next three years. This department did all the prep work for the acquisition of a licence for the brokerage and the merger of Issa Trust. This is where deals are assessed and models examined.
It was this unit that came up with DB&G's impressive information Web site.
"People need to understand a lot more about equities and the market so we try to put as much information as possible. We are definitely moving towards the region with our products now. In Jamaica today the fixed income market still dominates. The excitement generated over the last month with the equities market may be a little premature. I don't think the economy has sufficiently ripened yet to say that the market is going to 'bust' out. We have some way to go before we reach the stage of a Trinidad or Barbados. Yes, we have enjoyed a little recovery over the last couple of months but the fundamentals of the market are still on the negative side the huge debt, fiscal problems and so on. It will take a while for us to sort it out, perhaps another four to five years, assuming everything goes right." And the future for Johann?
"Well, I've never been on the sales side of DB&G but I'm open to anything."
After a hard day at the company conducting analysis and looking at models, Johann retires home to his wife.
MARLON GIBBS, 28
HEAD OF OPERATIONS,
After completing an MSc in Accounting and Management Studies at UWI, Marlon joined DB&G but before that he gained valuable experience as a lab technician at the university while on campus. He joined the company as a Microsoft certified professional but they knew nothing of his accounting background. He left the IT department joining Johann's Financial Planning and Analysis Department as an analyst where he made use of his accounting skills. From there he moved to Operations which handles regulatory aspects an is essentially DB&G's back office crew. "We stay on everyone's backs to ensure everything is done right. Not taking anything away from the sales team but we are the ones who are here until 11 at night ensuring things go smoothly."
Marlon played a pivotal role in placing DB&G's four IT systems on to one platform. "The aim of this exercise was to complement our service operations. Any business will fall short if it has many systems competing with each other, and at DB&G we look to increase the level of service to our clients. The delivery of information to managers and clients is faster now and that can only be good." Why DB&G?
"It is a young, dynamic company the gives you an opportunity to flex your muscles. You can do what you want here but within certain constraints, of course. I am not the traditional accountant and DB&G gives you that latitude to express yourself. I spend most of my time here developing new programmes to help the company. Where does my true love lie, accounting or IT? I'd have to say IT."
Marlon has developed a Web site for the company that is now being used by Johann's Financial Planning & Analysis Unit.
How does Marlon see the marriage of technology and banking in Jamaica today?
"Not much is being done with transactions, there is still this predominance of cash. Trading with credit and debit cards isn't that strong and it could get better once people really got comfortable with the technology at hand. As the confidence develops we will see an increase in this type of activity and it will warrant the expenditure."
TISA RAMDIAL, 28 HEAD OF TREASURY OPERATIONS
Tisa relocated to Jamaica in October 2001 after getting married in Florida. She did both her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Miami and began looking for work at one of the country's leading financial institutions.
Why did she join DB&G?
"Back in Florida I was working for a Fortune 500 company and I was looking for a First World company that employed the same corporate culture which had a lot of creative energy and was innovative and for that reason it was DB&G, this is where I wanted to be. I had a meeting with Gary Sinclair and he is quite a salesman and I was placed with the merchant bank as manager of operations."
With DB&G acquiring and merging Issa Trust & Merchant Bank with its own merchant banking operations and with the Issa staff coming on board, Tisa transferred out into the Treasury Department.
As the head of Treasury she works closely with the head of financial control and compliance unit. She has to ensure that the sales staff dot their 'i's' and cross their 't's' in their transactions. "I spend a lot of my time vetting documents and ensuring everything is where it needs to be. So in a typical day I determine our cash position because the cash management position comes under the Treasury's operations. I also do bank transfers and go through deals to see they meet with our compliance procedures. In the afternoon I replace those funds that go out and sign transfer forms for securities going back and forth between institutions and clients."
What is her view on the current banking environment today?
"There has been a certain level of consolidation with mergers taking place and the equities market is enjoying a positive run , how far it continues remains to be seen. I think now is an exciting time to be in the market. and I'm sure that DB&G will forge ahead."
How does DB&G' Treasury Depart-ment rate among its competitors?
"Judging by the feedback I get from the Bank of Jamaica and the Financial Services Commission, we are always ahead of the pack in submitting reports. As a result of the meltdown in the financial sector that took place a few years ago the FSC has instituted a whole slew of reporting requirements. We rank very favourably from a regulatory standpoint." What does the future hold for Tisa?
"Like Johann, I would like at some time to go on the front line selling DB&G. Also an area that interests me is the Financial Planning Unit."
