Wed | Apr 14, 2021

First Global's meet and mingle

Published:Sunday | March 28, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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Vice-president Dean McDonald (left) and Ian Kelly, senior vice-president, unwind before the seminar.
Montego Bay businessman Dean Salmon (centre) discussing various investment opportunities with Dean McDonald (left), vice-president of portfolio management at FGFS, and Maria Ho-Sue, assistant vice-president of business development for western Jamaia.
Sheldon Hyde, a potential customer of First Global Bank, receives a gift basket from Novelette Senior, promotional representative of FX Traders.
Executives of FGB and FGFS with some existing and potential customers at the annual Dollars and Sense seminar, held at The Wexford Hotel in Montego Bay on Thursday, March 18. From left (front row) are: Dean McDonald, FGFS vice-president; Joyce Riettie-Mirjah, customer; Michael Willacy, FGB vice-president; Suzette Ramdanie-Linton, business executive; Sheldon Hyde, potential customer; and Andrew Evans, FGB corporate banking manager. From left (back row) are Clayton Morgan, lawyer/customer; Dennis Mirjah, customer, Maria Ho-Sue, FGFS assistant vice-president; Ian Kelly, FGFS senior vice-president; Danny Campbell, potential customer; and Courtney Wilson, FGB assistant vice-president for western Jamaica.
Byron Leslie Jr, assistant general manager for risk and insurance at the Jamaica International Insurance Company, collects information from Colene Shortridge, of the Financial Services Centre, based in Mandeville, for a raffle.- Photos by Noel Thompson
Business development officer with First Global Bank's Mandeville branch, Nina Chang-Strong (left), talks about the bank's products and services with customer Jackie Huang.
Olive Haughton (left) and Annette Forrester, customers of First Global Bank and long-time friends, are in an animated mood at the start of the Dollars and Sense seminar, held at Golf View Hotel.
The Rev Anthony Millen (left), based in Mandeville, Manchester, is warmly greeted by Chorvelle Johnson, vice-president for business development at FGFS, at the start of the Dollars and Sense seminar held at Golf View Hotel on Wednesday, March 17. Looking on is Paul Ebanks, Mandeville branch manager of FGFS.
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Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU: It was a cool evening when Corporate Area-based executives of the GraceKennedy Group of companies journeyed to Mandeville to join their colleagues for an evening of discussion with customers.

Heading the group were First Global Financial Services (FGFS) and First Global Bank (FGB) financial experts who were conducting the annual Dollars and Sense investment seminar at Golf View Hotel. Started earlier in the year, the bank held the series of seminars first in Kingston, then Mandeville and ending in Montego Bay on Thursday, March 18.

The seminars were aimed primarily at educating existing and potential FGFS customers on how better to manage their finances, as well as making them aware of the range of financial opportunities which still exist locally, regionally and internationally.

Each event was similar in format, with the Jamaica International Insurance Company giving away goodie baskets and FX Traders distributing discount cards.

there is hope

Vice-president for portfolio management at FGFS, Dean McDonald, said in spite of the challenges facing Jamaicans, his organisation did not want customers to panic, but to realise there was hope, which involved planning.

"There are investment opportunities and we want to educate people about them. There are many ways to invest and we want to make everybody aware that there are tax-efficient options such as the stock market and long-term investment accounts for a fixed period," he said.

Dennis Mirjah and his wife, Joyce, are Canadian-Jamaican citizens. Each year, the couple plan their vacation to coincide with the dates that FGFS that the bank holds the financial seminars in Montego Bay.

"We can't afford to miss it, it is quite an informative session," Dennis, a retired medical researcher and IT specialist, told Outlook. "We invest with First Global Bank and we keep attending these seminars because knowledge can never be too much in the financial sector. We want to invest carefully and successfully, so we choose FGB," he added.