JN Fund Managers

2021 – not great for Unit Trusts

March 11, 2022 by IC Insider.com

2021 was not a great year for equity linked Unit Trust schemes, with the highest returns being 10.51 percent and the next best was 8.74 percent that is not bad when viewed against the Jamaica Stock Exchange Composite Index in 2021 with a rise of a mere 2.2 percent.

Scotia Investments Capital Growth Fund was tops in 2021 following years of being tops in the past.

Scotia Investments one of the perennial top performers in past years, delivered another industry-beating best performance in 2021, based on information published just before the last day of the year with a return of 10.51 percent, followed by Sigma Equity with a return of 8.74 percent. VM Wealth US dollar fund ended with 11.43 percent but the Jamaican Equity fund ended with just 3.7 percent.
JMMB Group’s Capital Growth Fund returned 5.09 percent whilst its Optimum Capital Fund rose 6.86 percent. NCB Capital Market posted gains of 6.24 percent, Proven Investments Select Equity returned 6.11 percent gains for their clients, why JN Mutual Global Fund had returns of 4.56 percent and Barita Investments could only manage a return of 5.09 percent.
Cumax Wealth Management Jamaican equity fund delivered a negative return of 3.16 percent for the year.
Investors should not only focus on recent performance but how well the funds have done over a lon=ger period. For the 5 years to the end of 2018, the three best performing Funds were Sagicor’s Sigma Equity, Scotia’s Premium Growth and Barita’s Capital Growth, for the 10 years to 2018, the same three Funds have been the top performers.

Barita’s unit trust leads this year

October 24, 2019 by IC Insider.com

Many investors in the growing pool of equity-linked managed Funds are losing out on good returns being enjoyed by others in the Unit Trust industry because they fail to focus regularly eyes on their investment and compare the performance of their investment against others.
Investors wanting to enjoy stock market-like gains with reduced risk have several options, but paying attention to past performance can make a big difference between ordinary or excellent returns.
Investors should review the performance of their investment regularly at least once per year to see how well theirs stack up with similar forms of investment. This applies to stocks, Unit Trusts, money market instruments or any other forms of investment.
A good example is the long-term top unit trust performer Barita’s Capital Growth Fund that gained the most for the year to September, with an increase of 43.15 percent, outperforming by far the 23.69 percent posted in the corresponding period in 2018. The Fund’s twelve-month growth was an attractive 52.67 percent, the highest of all the local equity Funds.
New kid on the block JN Mutual Funds Global Equity Fund holds the number 2 spot with growth of 35.91 percent to October 2 and gained just over 31 percent for the last twelve months, followed by Sagicor Investments’ Sigma Equity Fund with, growth of 31.31 percent and sits at number 3 for 2019 to date but that is lower than the 36.47 percent at the similar point in 2018. VM’s Wealth Classic Equity Growth portfolio is the fourth-best performing Fund in 2019 with a gain of 29.78 percent and is significantly up on the 16.42 percent increase in the 2018 period. NCB’s E Fund is next with 29.26 percent for 2019, a huge turnaround compared to last year’s mere 2.96 percent gain.
Barita’s Capital Growth Fund that led the pack with growth for the twelve-month period is followed by Sagicor’s Sigma Equity Fund with 39.84 percent and in third place, VMWealth Classic Equity with 33.96 percent.
Scotia Premium Growth Fund delivered a 23.14 percent growth while JMMB Income & Growth Fund had gains of 22.64 percent for the nine months to September. Sigma Global Venture Equity Fund delivered gains of 18.22 percent for the year to September and 17.60 percent for the 12 months.
The bottom three performing equity Funds for the year to September are JN Global Diversified Income with 11.26 percent growth and a twelve-month growth of 9.10 percent as of October 2, JMMB Optimum Capital generated just 15.7 percent gains for the nine months, and 11.44 percent for the past 12 months.
The three best performing Funds, Sagicor’s Sigma Equity, Scotia’s Premium Growth and Barita’s Capital Growth, have been and continue to outperform the other players in the market over the long term, despite encountering periodic blips in their performance due to local and external economic conditions.
For the past 5 years to the end of 2018, the three best performing Funds were Sagicor’s Sigma Equity, Scotia’s Premium Growth and Barita’s Capital Growth, and for the 10 years to 2018, the same three Funds have been the top performers.

Filed Under: General News, JSE Combined, Stock Market Tagged With: Barita Unit Trust, JMMB Unit Trust, JN Fund Managers, Sagicor Unit Trust, Unit trust, VM Unit Trust

MPC Caribbean Clean Energy next IPO

November 20, 2018 by IC Insider.com

MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ltd is a Caribbean-based investment company set to be the next Initial Public offer in Jamaica and Trinidad simultaneously in early December.
The company is being sponsored by German based MPC Capital that is publicly listed since 2000 with a market capitalization of €158 million.
Trinidad regulators have already signed off on the prospectus while the draft prospectus is now going through the FSC in Jamaica, Martin Vogt, managing director of MPC capital advised IC insider.com.
The company was established in 2017 with the clear vision to invest in renewable energy projects in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region through the MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund LLC. The listed company will be just an investing vehicle, with capital raised to be invested through MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund LLC, the entity investing directly in the projects.
The company will seek to raise at least US$50 million in the Jamaican and Trinidad markets with the IPO expected to debut around the first week in December. Brokers for the issue are JN Fund Managers.
The Company is registered in Barbados and was established by the clean energy investment specialist MPC Renewable Energies (MPC), a 100% subsidiary of the publicly listed German asset and investment manager MPC Capital, based on its extensive renewable energy experience worldwide and after research and analysis of the Caribbean market.

JPS has signed an agreement to purchase power from the company at 8.5 US cents per KWH.

The initial investment in Jamaica is “Paradise Park”, a 50 MW solar park in Westmoreland with a capital outlay of US$64 million. Once completed by May 2019, the solar park will be the largest photovoltaic power plant in the island. Vogt told IC Insider.com that they have a 20 years power supply contract with JPS. The company also has a 21 MW wind power plant in Costa Rica that has been in operations since 2015 and is profitable. Importantly, the Jamaican operation which is now being built out will have a rated capacity of 50 MWH.
The plan is to raise around US$200 million for investment in the region’s renewables. According Vogt, the Jamaican government is expected to open the market in 2019 for bids for 150 MW renewable supply and the company is planning to bid for another 50 MW to add to the Paradise Park operation. If the bid is successful the expansion will result in some amount of economy of scale in the operation.
The is likely to invest in the Wigton Wind Farm when that company goes public in the first quarter of 2019.
The rate of return for the company is expected to be north of 9 percent per annum which will make it attractive for investors looking for income but payment of dividend may not be more than once per year initially.
The stock issue is likely to be a relatively high income generator, rather than one for rapid stock price gains. shares will be sold in Jamaica in local dollars but in Trinidad they will be in US dollars.
News reaching IC Insider.com is that Fantana Pharmacy should be heading to the market soon, to raise around $500 million to help fund the new location on Waterloo Road in Kingston. A few others are said to be planned for next year with IC insider.com gathering that at least two are in the manufacturing sector and one in the financial sector.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers Tagged With: Emerging markets, Fantana Pharmacy, Jamaican Stock, JN Fund Managers, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy, Wigton Wind Farm

Scotia Premium Growth up 37% in 2017

February 20, 2018 by IC Insider.com

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Scotia Investments was the top performing unit trust in 2017.

The Jamaica stock market enjoyed strong growth between 2015 and 2017 with several stocks recording more than 100 percent gains in each of the years. The vast majority of Jamaicans have not participated in the gains offered by the market.
The vast majority of Jamaicans have not enjoyed the benefits of investing directly in the stock market because they do not fully understand it while some are just scared to lose their money. Many investors have taken the hassle or concerns out of investing directly in stocks by investing in equity based unit trust schemes that have delivered better gains than those in the fixed income market.
For while the combined market index of the Jamaica Stock Exchange racked up gains of 43 percent in 2017, the top performing equity based fund, Scotia’s Premium Growth Fund recorded gains of 37 percent for their investors in 2017 on top of a 25 percent gain in 2016. The Scotia Fund displaced Barita’s Capital Growth Fund, the 2016 front runner that ended at number 6 in 2017, delivering a 21.5 percent return, down slightly from 26.7 percent in 2016
Many investors have benefit from the strong performance of the local stock market in a number of ways. Pension funds that a large number of Jamaicans are members of, hold shares of many companies on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). There are also insurance company funds that rely on the shares as part of their investment portfolios. The National Insurance Scheme also invests in these companies and many more Jamaicans benefit from the market’s performance than they may be aware of. Others persons invest through unit trusts to enjoy the growth in the market and thus lower their risk. How does this work?

Barita Unit Trust equity drop from #1 in 206 to 6th spot in 2017 with a gain of 21.5%

A unit trust is a pooled investment scheme that allows anyone without expert knowledge and time to invest in a diverse portfolios of most stocks, to invest in them and therefore benefit from the gains that the funds can deliver. The investments, which comprise local and foreign equities, bonds, corporate paper, government securities, real estate, among others, are professionally managed to optimize gains for the investor.
Investing in a unit trust is an attractive option as the portfolios are not only diverse but they also cater to those with or without an appetite for risk. A few of the benefits to be derived are tax free gains, depending on the portfolio, lower levels of market volatility given the mix of securities in each portfolio as well as other perquisites.
From year to year, the performance of investments in equity based unit trust funds may in part reflect the highs and lows of the economy, the percentage share of investments in the local stock market shares and fixed income funds. Most importantly, the management of the funds can make a big difference as can be seen from the varied performance of funds in Jamaica. Additionally, in recent years there have been new players entering the market and new products being offered, thereby creating greater diversity so as to capture new investors and a greater share of the market of the non-investing market.
At present, there are eight schemes managed locally, namely Barita Unit Trust, JMMB Fund Managers, JN Fund Managers, NCB Capital Markets, Proven Fund Managers, Sagicor Investments, Scotia investments Jamaica and Victoria Wealth Management. All offer varied slate of funds denominated in Jamaican dollars and US dollars. Sagicor Investments has fifteen (15) portfolios, the most diverse of all, followed by Barita Unit Trust, JMMB and NCB, VM, Scotia and newcomer Proven.
Funds under management as at October 2017 stood at $229 billion with Sagicor still commanding the lion’s share with Scotia and NCB holding their double-digit portion while the others shared the remainder of the pie.
In the next article, IC Insider.com will look at the performance of the unit trust equities’ portfolio in 2017 compared to previous years to give investors a better view of the best performing funds.

Filed Under: Investment 2018, Investment Tips Tagged With: Barita Unit Trust, JMMB Fund Managers, JN Fund Managers, NCB Capital Markets, Proven Fund Managers, Sagicor Investments, Scotia Investments Jamaica, Victoria Wealth Management

Stationery Company to list early August

July 27, 2017 by IC Insider.com

Stationery and Office Supplies that issued shares to the public on the 19th of July should be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on August 9, after the public holidays, subject to the listing committee meeting to approve same, IC Insider.com has been informed by a person close to the issue.
JN Fund Managers announced the method of allocation of the 52 million shares that were offered to the public. The issue attracted 1,216 applications for 241.722 million shares.
Shares allocated to SOS’ staff members were not applied for in full and resulted in 4,061,000 units being added to the general public pool with the staff picking up 8.439 million units.
The general public were all allotted the minimum of 5,000 units with the balance allocated on a pro rata basis taking into account the number of units applied for as a percentage of the total application pool in this category. JN Fund Managers’ clients were allotted up to 77,585 units of the shares applied for. Cheques for refunds should start going out as of Thursday, IC Insider.com was reliably informed.