Barita tightens operations with management shake-up

A slew of management changes disclosed to the market this week by listed investment, wealth and funds management company, Barita Investments Limited, are meant to deepen the management team to better reflect the company’s governance, controls and risk management focus, as its funding and operations continue to grow, company officials say.

Since the investment company founded by market icon Rita Humphries-Lewin was sold to private equity investors in 2018, Barita has been going through a series of management changes – shaping and reshaping the team – amid rapid expansion.

The latest round of reorganisation introduces the position of CEO for the first time since the ownership change.

“We have raised significant capital in the business and our focus now is on governance and risk management. We want to ensure that what we have built remains really secure and we have a platform on which to really move the business forward for generations to come,” Barita director Jason Chambers told the Financial Gleaner in an interview on Tuesday.

“The second objective is that we need to continue to grow our core business,” he said.

Chambers is also chief investment officer for Barita’s parent company, Cornerstone.

Dane Brodber, who has been Cornerstone’s group chief risk officer since November 2019, will take over the management of Barita as interim CEO on May 7, following the planned departure on May 6 of general manager Paula Barclay. Barclay has been with Barita for the past three years, rising to GM after stints in charge of business development and customer experience.

“Under her leadership, Barita registered transformational growth in its market share across several business lines, including investment banking, asset management, stockbrokerage services, and cambio trading,” Barita’s April 11 notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange said of the departing GM’s stewardship.

Chambers said the Cornerstone management had been in dialogue with Barclay for some time about the pending changes and her plans, and worked with her to put in place some of the measures announced.

Prior to joining Barita, Barclay held several roles at the GraceKennedy Group, including group treasurer, managing director of First Global Leasing and as general manager, chief credit risk officer, senior vice president for personal and business banking, and vice president of corporate banking at First Global Bank.

Brodber, who was regional director for market risk management with Scotiabank before he joined Cornerstone, is said to have over 18 years’ experience in the financial services industry, with expertise in risk management, strategy, business intelligence, and financial analysis.

He will be supported by Stephen Phillibert, chief financial officer with the Cornerstone group, who will assume responsibility for Barita’s operations in addition to his existing CFO duties. Also supporting the interim CEO will be Ramon Small-Ferguson, Barita’s recently promoted executive vice president, who, as of May 7, will have expanded responsibilities for the revenue generating arm of the business, including asset management and research, investment banking, treasury management, and alternative investments. Small-Fergus was previously vice president in charge of asset management and research.

Barita said these changes are part of the company’s succession planning.

“The changes are meant to further strengthen Barita’s organisational structure, risk management and governance, significantly bolster executive leadership of the core business, and deepen sales and service capabilities,” Barita’s market notice said.

Vice president for information technology, Junior Graham, is also leaving the company at the end of this month. Graham had joined Barita from JMMB, where he was group management information systems manager. He also previously worked with the GraceKennedy Group, a food and financial services conglomerate.

Barita is also adding new talent to the leadership team with new recruits from other banking and finance institutions.

Dave Dixon joined Barita on February 28 from Scotiabank as senior vice president in charge of sales and services, and has taken over Barclay’s responsibilities for retail sales, including the company’s branch network and customer experience oversight.

Sancia Thompson was tapped from NCB Financial Group and NCB Capital Markets on February 28, joining Barita as vice president for premium wealth and corporate solutions.

“We have divided sales into retail sales or branch management operations and service separate from our premium wealth and corporate sales arm. Overall, all the changes represent a real strengthening and deepening of that cadre of management. What we are doing is adding depth and specialisation to the organisation of Barita to make sure that what we have in terms of core business oversight and growth has the best chance of success,” Cornerstone’s Chambers pointed out.

In January, Nigel Sinclair, formerly of the GraceKennedy Group, joined Barita as head of asset management, taking over executive leadership of the fiduciary management aspects of the business, including investment management oversight for Barita’s unit trust and pension products.

Barita said the company has been deliberate with its talent acquisition strategy over the last three years.

“These changes augur well in advancing the initiatives aimed at continuing to challenge the status quo in the capital markets to ultimately create and sustain stakeholder value,” Barita said in its statement to the market.

At Barita’s sale to Cornerstone in August 2018, the company held total assets of $19 billion. Nearly four years later, its assets have grown fivefold to $92 billion.

huntley.medley@gleanerjm.com